One of The Most Famous 20th Century Writers in The World. James Bond Ist Edition "You Only Live Twice" Ist Issue, Fleming, Ian Published by Jonathan Cape, London, 1964. Basis for the James Bond Movie, Sean Connery & Karin Dor As Bond-Girl Helga Brandt

Our latest addition to our small Ian Fleming 1st Edition collection.
Jonathan Cape, London, 1964. the 2nd Bond book. Black Cloth with Japanese kanji . Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition:Good. First Edition. A first edition/first Impression.
A first edition, first impression (stating 'First Published 1964' versus the second state 'March 1964') of Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice, here in highly collectible condition. With the original dustjacket designed by Richard Chopping, It is the last novel by Fleming to be published in his lifetime, with subsequent works (Man with The Golden Gun and Octopussy) being published posthumously. First edition, first impression (stating 'First Published 1964' versus the second state 'March 1964'), correctly priced at 16s.net. Original black cloth boards with the spine lettered in silver, with title in Japanese on front board in gilt. Internally fresh Original dustjacket by Richard Chopping with the pink presenting beautifully mild toning to the jacket spine. A near-fine example. Published by Jonathan Cape, London, 1964.

Ian Fleming was probably one of the most interesting Englishman of the 20th century. 90% of the world would believe that is because solely of his contribution to the literary world of his eponymous icon, James Bond. Also, for his other well known and famous literary masterpiece, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

However, long before the escapades described of Mr Bond, he was indeed a WW2 master spymaster himself, creating some of the most clandestine groups of special forces the world has ever known, but it is hardly, in fact, known around the world at all.
His clandestine force, called 30 commando or X force, Aka the Red Indians, contained some of the bravest and most resourceful men to have fought in World War II. In fact all of them versions of James Bond himself and his connection to so many other clandestine operations, such as The Dieppe Raid, and some still secret today, is not frequently known by all of the admirers of his post war craft. His clandestine force was actually referred to in one of his early books, and he subtly described them, as Bonds affinity to playing like Red Indians.

The Metaphorical Meaning in the novel, Casino Royale is when the villain, Le Chiffre, mocks James Bond by telling him he is "playing Red Indians". He implies that Bond is acting like a naive child who thinks the world is simple, mistakenly believing it is easy to tell black and white, or absolute good and evil, apart. The real-life inspiration outside of the narrative, is that the term refers to the previously described 30 Assault Unit (30 AU). This was a real-life commando unit formed by Ian Fleming during World War II, made up of specialist intelligence troops tasked with infiltrating enemy lines and securing documents. Fleming originated the idea for this group and personally nicknamed his commandos his "Red Indians

Throughout a jolly nice copy. "When Ernst Stavro Blofeld blasted into eternity the girl whom James Bond had married only hours before, the heart, the zest for life, went out of Bond" (from the dust-jacket). Basis for the James Bond movie with Sean Connery and Karin Dor as Bond-Girl Helga Brandt. This film is the first Bond movie to deviate from the source material. Other than the Japanese setting, and several characters, the two stories are very different. A first edition/first Impression (stating "first Published 1964" versus the second state "March 1964")
You Only Live Twice
Cinema poster showing Sean Connery as James Bond fly his monocoptor over the villains lair.
British cinema poster for You Only Live Twice.

The movie was Directed by Lewis Gilbert
Produced by Albert R. Broccoli
Harry Saltzman

Distributed by United Artists
Release date
12 June 1967 (London, premiere)
You Only Live Twice is a 1967 British spy film and the fifth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name. It is the first James Bond film to discard most of Fleming's plot, using only a few characters and locations from the book as the background for an entirely new story.

In the film, Bond is dispatched to Japan after American and Soviet manned spacecraft disappear mysteriously in orbit. With each nation blaming the other amidst the Cold War, Bond travels secretly to a remote Japanese island to find the perpetrators and comes face to face with Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE. The film reveals the appearance of Blofeld, who was previously a partially unseen character. SPECTRE is working for the government of an unnamed Asian power, implied to be the People's Republic of China, to provoke war between the superpowers.

During the filming in Japan, it was announced that Sean Connery would retire from the role of Bond, but after a hiatus, he returned in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever and later 1983's non-Eon Bond film Never Say Never Again. You Only Live Twice is the first Bond film to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, who later directed the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me and the 1979 film Moonraker, both starring Roger Moore.

You Only Live Twice was a great success, receiving positive reviews and grossing over $111 million in worldwide box office.

For those that have interest in World War II clandestine operations, we have acquired a small unique collection or original German badges personally collected by a former 30 AU commando, during clandestine raids, serving in Lt Commander Ian Flemings, so-called, “Red Indians”, of 30 assault commando.
Each superb iconic piece of history is for sale separately. Naturally, each piece comes with our usual certificate of authenticity, just as we have issued for all our pieces since after the war.

The partners of The Lanes Armoury have, for many decades, a very special interest in the clandestine forces of World War II, thus, offered and sold over the decades since the war, some of the most incredible artifacts of former SOE and OSS secret equipment and weaponry that you could ever find.

An interest that was likely formed as the current partner‘s father was an RAF bodyguard of Barnes Wallis, one of the greatest top-secret ‘boffins’ to have ever lived, the brains behind the dam-busters and so many other intriguing inventions for the RAF.
Also, the partner’s mother was a dear friend of former agent 365 of the Belgian Resistance, Countess Anita Vulliamy, who remarkably survived capture and torture by the Gestapo in WW2, and relocated to Hove after the war, and Mark, the elder partner, knew quite well a very famous spy, but for the ‘other side’, of Joe Stalin’s KGB, the ‘Cambridge Five Spy Ring’ recruiter. Of course it wasn’t until she had died that it was revealed to the public she was indeed one of the infamous World War II traitors and communist spy. Edith Tudor-Harte lived only a few hundred yards from the The Lanes Armoury gallery.

Code: 26281