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From Russia, with Love is the fifth novel by the English author Ian Fleming to feature his fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond. Fleming wrote the story in early 1956 at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica; at the time he thought it might be his final Bond book.
- Ian Fleming
- 1957
From Russia With Love study guide contains a biography of author Ian Fleming, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The book is the fifth in the James Bond series.
A Soviet plot to discredit British intelligence unfolds as James Bond becomes entangled in a deadly game of espionage and seduction.
From Russia, With Love is a 1957 spy thriller by British novelist Ian Fleming. It follows British secret agent Commander James Bond as he foils an attempt by the Russian agency SMERSH to embroil him in a sex scandal and murder him.
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, published in 1957, is the fifth James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming. From Russia, with Love is frequently considered the best James Bond novel by many fans and critics (although even critical opinion varies greatly). The novel is credited with launching the James Bond craze, and leading to the official EON Productions film series. Its biggest boost came four years after it was published, when an article in Life magazine on 17 March 1961 featured U.S. President John F. Kennedy including it in a list of his top ten favourite books. This book was the only work of fiction on the list.
The title of the book is occasionally printed with a comma, as From Russia, with Love, depending upon the publisher. It is more commonly printed without the punctuation. In 1979, Oxford University Press published a simplified adaptation of the novel, written by Rosemary Border, under its Alpha Thrillers imprint; this version was intended for people who were learning to read, or those studying English.
differs from Fleming's previous Bond novels in that the first third of the novel revolves around SMERSH's executioner, Red Grant, as well as the organization, SMERSH, itself. This is also the first novel in which Bond receives a gadget from Q-Branch, although Q himself is not featured.
The book contains a series of elaborate plots and counterplots, between the British and the Soviet intelligence agencies. It begins with SMERSH, the Soviet assassination agency, seeking to redeem itself from a series of failures that have led some within the Soviet government to criticise the organization. SMERSH plans to commit a grand act of terrorism in the intelligence field. For this, SMERSH has targetted British secret service agent, Commander James Bond. Due in part to Bond's defeat of Le Chiffre detailed in Casino Royale and Mr. Big in Live and Let Die, Bond has been declared as an enemy of the Soviet Union and has been issued a "death warrant" for immediate execution ("To be killed with ignominy").
Mainly through the agency of Colonel Kronsteen, the chess-playing master planner, and Colonel Rosa Klebb, SMERSH lays a trap for Bond, by setting the pretty young cipher clerk, Corporal Tatiana Romanova, to pretend to defect from her post in Istanbul, claiming to have fallen in love with Bond, after seeing his photograph. As an added incentive, Tatiana will provide the British agent with a Spektor decoder, a prize much coveted by the British Secret Service. The ultimate goal is to set up James Bond for assassination, and cause a scandal.
In Istanbul, Bond meets Darko Kerim, the leader of the British substation in Istanbul. Bond likes this man on sight. The two men spend a great deal of time together over the next few days because Kerim believes Bond should not sit in one place and wait for Tatiana to approach him. During this time, Bond not only sees more of Istanbul than he ever wanted, but he becomes involved in a plot against Kerim by a local gang who work for the Soviets. This plot has nearly killed Kerim once with a bomb and they attack Bond and Kerim a second time while they are visiting a gypsy friend of Kerim's. Kerim decides he must take out their leader in order to stop these attacks. Bond goes with Kerim and watches as he executes this man in cold blood.
Tatiana approaches Bond that night. Tatiana is in Bond's bed naked when he comes back to the hotel Kristal Palas (based on the real Pera Palas Hotel). Bond and Tatiana spend the night together after deciding how to proceed. Bond wants to get the machine and take Tatiana to Britain by plane, but Tatiana insists on the Orient Express. This choice makes Bond uneasy, but he likes Tatiana and decides to indulge her. Bond talks Kerim into taking the train as well. Kerim immediately recognizes the three Russians they saw in a meeting a few days before on the train and decides to get them off. Kerim bribes a few officials and has two of these men off the train, making Bond feel more relaxed about the situation. However, Kerim is still nervous and wants Bond to leave the train and fly to London. Bond refuses.
The next morning, Kerim is found murdered. However, Bond decides to stay on the train. A man boards the train and Bond thinks he is another MI6 agent. The man agrees to share the guard duties and stays with Bond and Tatiana in their stateroom. However, the man is Grant, the assassin, and the next morning he allows his identity to be known. A confrontation between Bond and Grant takes place on board, when Grant is shot by Bond.
1.Kristal Palas, Istanbul – Fleming's Bond (flemingsbond.com)
- 3 min
From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming is a novel centered around the infamous British MI5 spy, James Bond. In this installment of the Bond saga, Bond is targeted for elimination by the Russian intelligence agencies.
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From Russia With Love is the fifth book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. Written in the height of the Cold War, it pits Russia versus the west in a race to achieve the best in stealth technology.
