"This delightful critical appreciation celebrates the longest-running of all film franchises as much for its absurd excesses as for its stylish thrills. A scintillating read that's often more entertaining than the movies themselves."---Publishers Weekly<BR><BR>"Thoroughly researched and documented yet fetching in tone and style, McKay's fun, smart, and informative book gracefully treads the criticism/entertainment border."---Library Journal<BR><BR>"A splendid book, packed with information and combining astute analysis with the enthusiasm of a hard-core fan."---Booklist<BR><BR>"Thoroughly researched, drolly written and critically sophisticated, it takes you on a ride every bit as satisfying as the best of the films."---Daily Mail<BR><BR>"A jaunty history of the Bond films."---Telegraph<BR><BR>"Marvelously entertaining."---Metro<BR><BR>This is the story of how, with the odd misstep along the way, the owners of the Bond franchise, Eon Productions, have managed to keep James Bond abreast of the times and at the top of the charts for forty-eight years, through twenty-two films featuring six Bonds, three Ms, two Qs and three Moneypennies<BR><BR>Thanks to the films, Fleming's original creation has been transformed from a black sheep of the postwar English upper classes into a figure with universal appeal, constantly evolving to keep pace with changing social and political circumstances. Having interviewed people concerned with all aspects of the films, Sinclair McKay is ideally placed to describe how the Bond `brand' has' been managed over the years as well as to give us the inside stories of the Supporting cast of Bond girls, Bond villains, Bond cars and Bond gadgetry