In this special extra episode of the Penguin Podcast Penguin's own Simon Winder talks about James Bond and his role in the making of modern Britain and reads from his new book, The Man Who Saved Britain
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About the Book
As victory over Japan was declared in 1945, Britain was a relieved but
also a profoundly traumatized country. It was a very peculiar trauma,
created by having won the war while in many ways losing it. The war had
ruined Britain's image of itself as a great power. It had only
prevailed through the assistance of the two greatest nations on earth;
and it now found itself bankrupt, dependent and - despite the efforts
of the new Labour reform government - with no discernible future. This
feeling prevailed for decades and it still seeps into national life
today.
The Man Who Saved Britain explores this trauma through a
figure who can now be seen as the quintessential British figure of the
time, the great necessary invention who provided a palliative of sorts
to many millions of people: James Bond. Ian Fleming was an upper-class
wastrel who found purpose and excitement in the War, working on spying
operations, finding a legitimate glamour and heroism for himself
unguessed at before hostilities broke out. For him, as so many others,
the elation over British survival was more than stifled by the reality
of the new British impotence. By writing "Casino Royale" and inventing
the magical, parallel world of secret British greatness, Fleming
fabricated a durable icon - one who for millions of bored former
servicemen holding down dreary jobs or for members of the ruling class,
lashed almost daily by the humiliation of international events
throughout the 1950s, made life more bearable.
Written with humour, wit and a great deal of personal insight and affection, Simon Winder illuminates and makes sense of the oddities and contrasts which emerged in Britain as a result of the war.
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Coming Next Week
Interviews and readings with Rageh Omaar and Gloria Hunniford!
It's Jan 29, 2007. I am reading the american printing of THE MAN WHO SAVED BRITAIN.. oN PG 105 the author states that Bond would have been lost in New York City or Toronto or Chicago. I have some problems with this ... My mental image of James Bond will always be Sean Connery... and I loved the way he played a Bond-like character in the movie THE ROCK. That British spy, whether actually James Bonds or not, would never feel lost or uncomfortable in a major American city.... It is true that I haven't read the original novels in more than 20 years... and perhaps there lies the conflict.
Posted by: Paul Memoli | 29/01/2007 at 05:13 PM