Harvill Secker seizes Shakespeare’s ‘eye-opening’ biography of Ian Fleming

Harvill Secker has signed Ian Fleming: The Complete Man by Nicholas Shakespeare, described as “a fresh portrait of the man behind James Bond, and his enduring impact, by an award-winning biographer with unprecedented access to Fleming family papers".

Publishing director Liz Foley acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Clare Alexander at Aitken Alexander, for publication in October 2023.

The synopsis reads: “Ian Fleming’s greatest creation, James Bond, has had an enormous impact on our culture. What Bond represents about ideas of masculinity, the British national psyche, and global politics has shifted over time, as has the interpretation of the life of his author. But Fleming himself was more mysterious and subtle than anything he wrote. His childhood with his gifted brother Peter and his extraordinary mother Evelyn set the pattern for Fleming’s ambition to be ‘the complete man’ and he would strive for the means to achieve this ‘completeness’ all his life.

“Ian Fleming began writing Casino Royale in 1952 and would continue to write the James Bond adventures until his death in 1964. Before his time as a novelist, Fleming’s dramatic personal life and impressive career put him at the heart of critical moments in world history, while also providing rich material for his fiction.

“A surprisingly pivotal figure in the Second World War, Fleming’s covert work in Naval Intelligence was hugely significant. He also acted as a vital bridge between Britain and America, pursuing this relationship into the Cold War in his later work as a journalist. Widely travelled and incredibly well-connected, from Communist Russia to his beloved Jamaica, Fleming had access to the most powerful political figures at a time of extraordinary change.”

The publisher describes Shakespeare as “one of the most gifted biographers and novelists working today", going on: “His talent for uncovering material that casts new light on his subjects is fully evident in this masterful, definitive biography. His unprecedented access to the Fleming family papers, his nose for a story and his novelist’s prize-winning talent to tell it, make this a fresh and eye-opening picture of the man and his famous creation.”

His books include Stories from Other Places, Six Minutes in May: How Churchill Unexpectedly Became Prime Minister and Priscilla, The Hidden Life of An Englishwoman in Wartime France (Vintage). 

Foley said: “It’s no secret that Nicholas Shakespeare is an outstanding biographer and novelist. To have him turn his talents to the life of a man with such a reputation and such dramatic experiences is a gift. This is a fascinating book which illuminates an entire social and political period as well as Fleming himself as a person.”