‘If you’ve never read a Bond book before you’ve picked a good place to start. My favourite of the Bond books’ Charlie Higson

Bond Dossier

‘Name: Bond, James. Height: 183 cm, weight: 76kg; slim build; eyes: blue; hair: black; scar down right cheek & on left shoulder; all-round athlete; expert pistol shot, boxer, knife-thrower; does not use disguises. Languages: French and German. Smokes heavily (NB: special cigarettes with three gold bands); vices: drink, but not to excess, and women.’ SMERSH dossier on agent 007 of the British Secret Service.  

From Russia with Love is the fifth of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels and takes Bond to Istanbul, where a beautiful girl – and a terrible fate – await him…

Every major foreign government has a file on James Bond, British secret agent. Now, Russia’s deadly SMERSH organisation has targeted him for elimination – they have the perfect bait in the irresistible Tatiana Romanova. Her mission is to lure Bond to Istanbul and seduce him while her superiors handle the rest. But when Bond walks willingly into the trap, a game of cross and double-cross ensues – with Bond both the stake and the prize…

Original 1957 Plot Summary
SMERSH is the Soviet organ of vengeance – of interrogation, torture and death – and James Bond is dedicated to the destruction of its agents wherever he finds them.

But, in its turn, the cold eye of SMERSH focuses on James Bond and far away in Moscow a trap is laid for him – a death trap with an enticing lure. Ian Fleming takes us into the headquarters of SMERSH. We watch Bond’s assassination being minutely devised. We meet the executioner. We sit in at the planning. We inspect the lure.

Then the lever is pulled in Moscow, and in London, Istanbul and Paris the wheels begin to turn. Ian Fleming’s other Secret Service thrillers – Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever – may have made your pulse race. Be careful of From Russia with Love. Weak nerves will be shredded by it…

This innovative scheme saw City Reads recruit a team of volunteer Reading Champions to help run five community reading groups across the city. Over the last few months those Reading Champions have successfully delivered the project to a range of people throughout Brighton & Hove, many with literacy issues and/or poor access to books and learning support…

‘Really great and really brilliant. Really enjoyed it. They were really good to us. I shall miss the Book Club.’ Care Co-ops attendee

THE VOLUNTEERS:

City Reads received an overwhelming number of requests from Brighton residents to become Reading Champions.

After a thorough selection process, the twelve chosen volunteers were CRB checked and given specialist training (in conjunction with Brighton’s Creative Future) to cover all aspects of working in the community sector.

“I was scared and nervous at first but got more confident and relaxed as time went on. I’d do it again. I gained confidence working with people and facilitating groups and it raised my awareness of mental health issues”

THE GROUPS:

The next stage was to recruit the community groups across the city who would take part in the scheme. The Spreading the Word 2010 groups were:

• Care Co-ops – those with mental health and learning difficulties
• Sussex Partnership Trust Community Mental Health Day Centre – those with mental health problems
• Women’s centre – marginalised women
• Patching Lodge – elderly people
• Adult Learners – adults with literacy issues recruited in conjunction with Brighton & Hove Library Services

“The group was excellent and our clients really enjoyed it – we want them to come back next year.”    Debbie Seacombe, Care Co-ops

THE DELIVERY:

City Reads set up reading groups within each of these community settings, providing free books and readers guides for each session. The Reading Champions (working in pairs) then met with the individual groups each week to read, share and discuss the books…

“The group brought the book alive.” GM

“A+++ experience. The group helped my reading, the volunteers were great and it’s improved my confidence to read some more.” NA

“The workshop really helped increase my concentration”JGS

The project has been a huge success, and a big thank you goes out to all who took part – from volunteers and trainers to clients and groups!

This was based on an original idea by EBP Portsmouth:

Max and Dona at Book and Rose

City Reads at Brighton & Hove’s Book and Rose event in April, an open air event outside Jubilee Library based on the Spanish model whereby the woman traditionally buys a rose for the man and the man buys a book for the woman. Not sure what Bond or Fleming would have made of that! It’s hard to imagine Bond in a florist…  Thanks, Peter, for the photo…

‘I have always smoked and drank and loved too much. In fact I have lived not too long but too much. One day the Iron Crab will get me. Then I shall have died of living too much.’ Ian Fleming

The Fleming Files

Name: Fleming, Ian Lancaster

Born: 28 May 1908 Place: London

Status: deceased, 1964, age 56

Education: Eton; Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst (failed to complete); studied languages in Austria, Germany, France

A notable athlete…

Early career: sub-editor and journalist with Reuters (including Moscow); short-lived city career interrupted by war

War years: assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence; Lt then commander (codename 17F). This covert work provides inspiration and background for the Bond novels…

Bond years: First novel Casino Royale (1953). As foreign manager for Sunday Times, Fleming spends each winter at Goldeneye in Jamaica to write. Produces one novel a year for the next 12 years:

Live and Let Die (1954); Moonraker (1955); Diamonds Are Forever (1956); From Russia with Love (1957); Dr No (1958); Goldfinger (1959); For Your Eyes Only (1960); Thunderball (1961); The Spy Who Loved Me (1962); On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963); You Only Live Twice (1964); The Man with the Golden Gun (1965); Octopussy/The Living Daylights (1966)

Vices: cars, good food, gambling and girls…

Legacy:

14 James Bond books

Two non-fiction books: Thrilling Cities (a travel guide) and a study of international crime The Diamond Smugglers

100 million copies sold worldwide

Bond bites: Dame Celia Johnson, star of the David Lean classic film, Brief Encounter, was Ian Fleming’s sister-in-law

World Book Day Launch – With Book Karaoke

Spies on film
Free film screenings at Jubilee Library. Catch a series of Bond movies all featuring Sean Connery – for many, the seminal 007, kicking off with the 1963 classic From Russia with Love.
From Russia with Love           Sun 7 March, 1pm   
Thunderball                             Sun 14 March, 1pm  
Dr No                                      Sun  21 March, 1pm  
Goldfinger                               Sun  28 March, 1pm   
All films in High Definition Blu-ray
Find out more from the Jubilee Library Booklover Store (01273) 294071

Free City Readings – Library Coffee Mornings
Share your thoughts on From Russia with Love and all things Bond at these free library readings/coffee mornings across Brighton & Hove with actress Peta Taylor.
Sat 13 March, 11.30am – Hove Library
Sat 27 March, 11.30am – Hollingbury Library

City Reads at the Adult Learning Festival
Find out all about this year’s City Reads and meet some of the team at Brighton & Hove Adult Learning Festival’s Spring Forward celebrations. Including a Russian choir singing traditional Russian songs from 1pm.
Sat 20 March, Jubilee Square, 10am – 5pm, Free

The Noise of Strangers by Robert Dickinson
in association with Myriad Publishers
An Orwellian dystopia in the guise of a fast-paced thriller, this is a coolly satirical novel laced with humour, suspense and intrigue.
Thu 25 March, Jubilee Library, 6pm, Free
Jubilee Library Booklover Store (01273) 294071

Bedroom Bond

Argus Review

Get up close and personal with Bond in myhotel’s luxury penthouse suite. Book an exclusive audience with Damian Barr, the world’s first ‘reader in residence’ (maximum 4 people per session). Your own barman will mix you a complimentary vodka martini – ‘shaken not stirred’ – while Damian reads extracts from From Russia with Love overlooking the city’s skyline. Damian Barr has been ‘reader in residence’ across the globe from London’s Andaz Hotel to the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan.
Thu 8, 15, 22 & 29 April, 6pm, 7pm, 8pm 9pm, 10pm & 11pm
myhotel, Brighton, £5 per person (includes one vodka martini each), Age 18+
Tickets: Brighton Dome Ticket Office (01273) 709709
www.brightonticketshop.com

Free City Readings – Library Coffee Mornings
Share your thoughts on From Russia with Love and all things Bond at these free library readings/coffee mornings across Brighton & Hove with actress Peta Taylor.
Sat 10 April, 11.30am – Portslade Library
Sat 17 April, 11.30am – Coldean Library
Sat 24 April, 11.30am – Patcham Library

City Reads Book Quiz at Jubilee Library
This popular annual book quiz returns to test your literary mettle. With a special round on Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Come along and join a team or bring your own. Wine and soft drinks on sale.
Thu 22 April, Jubilee Library, 6.15pm – 8pm, £4 (Doors at 6pm)
Tickets from Brighton Dome Ticket Office (01273) 709709
www.brightonticketshop.com

Spies on film
Free film screenings at Jubilee Library

From Russia with Love Thu 1 April, 6pm
The Ipcress File Thu  8 April, 6pm
The Quiller Memorandum*     Thu 15 April, 6pm
North by Northwest Thu 29 April, 6pm
All films in High Definition Blu-ray except where indicated*

Write a Thriller in a Day  (Age 16 +)
Writing Workshop with Sue Walker
Learn the craft of constructing a thriller novel with novelist and creative writing tutor Sue Walker. In this fun but informative workshop you’ll work in groups to sketch out characters and credible plot lines before writing the opening paragraph/prologue to your novel.
Sat 24 April, 10am – 4pm (45-minute lunch break)
Jubilee Library, £20/£15 concession (lunch not included)
Tickets from Brighton Dome Ticket Office (01273) 709709
www.brightonticketshop.com

From Russia with Love Film Screening
‘From Russia with Love stands head and shoulders above the other Bond films.’ (Simon Winder, The Man Who Saved Britain.) One-off screening of the classic 1963 Bond film at Brighton’s best-loved arthouse cinema in this its centenary anniversary.
Sun 25 April, 2pm, Duke of York’s Cinema
Tickets: Duke of York’s Cinema (0871) 7042056
www.picturehouses.co.uk

‘Sex, Snobbery and Sadism?’ The Bond Controversy

Free City Readings – Library Coffee Mornings
Share your thoughts on From Russia with Love and all things Bond at these free library readings/coffee mornings across Brighton & Hove with actress Peta Taylor.
Sat 1 May, 11.30am – Saltdean Library

Secrets & Sensitivities with Christopher Andrew & Christopher Meyer
From counterterrorism to diplomacy – covert actions and operations that never reach the public domain are regularly carried out in our name and on our behalf. Christopher Andrew – author of the best-selling Defence of the Realm: The Authorised History of MI5 and an all-new introduction to From Russia with Love –  is joined by Sir Christopher Meyer, former British Ambassador to Washington. Together, they lift the lid on secrets and sensitivities, British style…
Sat 1 May, 7.30pm, Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome, £8
Tickets: Brighton Dome Ticket Office  (01273 709709)
www.brightonfestival.org

Bond at Brighton Festival
with Andrew Lycett, Simon Winder and Rowan Pelling
Bring your City Reads experience full circle by joining a panel of experts and admirers for a lively and entertaining discussion on From Russia with Love and Ian Fleming’s legacy. Speakers include: Ian Fleming’s official biographer Andrew Lycett; Simon Winder – author of The Man Who Saved Britain: a Personal Journey into the Disturbing World of James Bond; and broadcaster, journalist and former editor of the Erotic Review Rowan Pelling.
Sun 2 May, 7.30pm, Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome, £8
Tickets: Brighton Dome Ticket Office  (01273 709709)
www.brightonfestival.org

Cherub Campus Uncovered with Robert Muchamore (Age 14+)
When Dante’s family are brutally killed by a biker gang, he is given the chance to become a member of CHERUB, a secret branch of British intelligence that uses children as spies… Best-selling author Robert Muchamore gives up some trade secrets on all things CHERUB, including Brigands MC – the eleventh title in this explosive teen spy series.
Sat 8 May, 4pm, Sallis Benney Theatre, £5
Tickets from: Brighton Dome Ticket Office (01273 709709)
www.brightonfestival.org

Spooks: Roland Chambers and Ben Macintyre
Roland Chambers’ The Last Englishman explores the astonishing double-life of Arthur Ransome, writer of the nostalgic Swallows and Amazons, communist sympathiser, and a spy in Russia. Ben Macintyre, author of the acclaimed Agent Zigzag, tells the story of one of World War II’s most audacious hoaxes, Operation Mincemeat, which duped the Germans with a corpse bearing fictional military plans. They discuss the British talent for espionage and deception, from Marlow to Fleming (an officer in the department that devised Operation Mincemeat!).
Fri 28 May, 6pm, Charleston Festival,  £11
Tickets: Brighton Dome Ticket Office (01273) 709709
www.charleston.org.uk