James Bond is the most famous fictional spy of all time, but what about the man who created him? It has been widely accepted that Ian Fleming was the model for 007, but author Andrew Lycett says Fleming was more complex and self-destructive than Bond.
In a new biography, "Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond" (Turner Publishing, $24.95), Lycett says Fleming's less-than-dramatic desk duties in the British secret service inspired him to make Bond's fictional career even more precarious.According to Lycett, Fleming was a womanizer who was even fonder of "shaken, not stirred" martinis than Bond. When he was 38, Fleming's doctor warned him that smoking 70 cigarettes and consuming a bottle of gin each day was hazardous to his health. Fleming ignored the advice and died at 56.
- Don O'Briant