'James Bond: Born in the trenches' new article by Ben Macintyre

In a new piece for The Times titled "James Bond: Born in the trenches", also published in the Ottawa Citizen, writer Ben Macintyre argues that the biggest inspiration for Agent 007 was Ian Fleming’s own father, who died a hero’s death in the First World War.

"A new James Bond film has been announced in the run-up to Remembrance Day: there is an odd, and oddly poignant, symmetry here, for 007 was born out of the carnage of the trenches, a cultural reflection of the death in action of one young man, among the hundreds of thousands," Macintyre writes.

In August 1914, an officer named Valentine Fleming rode off to war. At 31, Fleming was a Tory MP, good-looking, highly intelligent and a rising political star. “A man of thoughtful and tolerant opinions” was how his friend Winston Churchill described him, with a “lovable and charming personality.”

The Times obituary of Val Fleming was written by Churchill. Ian Fleming had it framed and signed by its author, and kept the words on his wall for the rest of his life.

Click here to read the complete article (via Ottawa Citizen).

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