Ian Fleming (1908–1964) was a British writer and journalist best known as the creator of James Bond. During World War II, he served in British Naval Intelligence as assistant to Rear Admiral John Godfrey, the Director of Naval Intelligence. After the war, Fleming worked in journalism and drew on his intelligence experience, travels, and interests in gambling, cars, and other pursuits to create James Bond, an agent of the British Secret Service. His first Bond novel, "Casino Royale," published in 1953, follows Bond as he attempts to defeat the Soviet-linked operative Le Chiffre at the gambling tables, combining espionage with the dangers and moral ambiguities of the emerging Cold War. Fleming went on to write further Bond novels including "From Russia with Love" and "Goldfinger," establishing James Bond as one of the defining characters of twentieth-century spy fiction.
