I am struggling now to understand the point of this essay (beyond, of course, enticing suckers like me to pay to download it to my Kindle). I suppose it may eventually feature as a chapter in Len Deighton’s autobiography, but as a standalone item, it seems rather baffling.

In this piece Deighton recounts his friendships with Ian Fleming, famous as the creator of James Bond, and Kevin McClory, who is less widely known these days but played a vital role in bringing James bond to the screen. Fleming and McClory could not have been more different, one debonair, calculating and prudent, the other almost feckless and spendthrift, but the prevailing image of James bond owes much to both of them. While Fleming created the character in his novels, it was the screen manifestation of him that secured the ‘brand’ enduring success.

McClory, along with Jack Whittingham, collaborated with Fleming in the writing of a screenplay for Thunderball, which would have been the first of the James bond films. Fleming then adapted the screenplay into his novel of the same name, prompting a sustained legal dispute with McClory and Whittingham that delayed the release of the film.

The legal wrangles over the appropriate division of royalties and credits for the book were resolved fairly quickly, but they would subsequently prompt McClory to seek a greater share of the returns from the whole James Bond series.

All very interesting, of course, and I had been wholly unaware of the dispute. Less clear, however, is the precise role that Deighton played, and I was left feeling that this essay merely represented an opportunity for some heavy handed name dropping! ( )