Books

FLEMING, Ian Thunderball London: Jonathan Cape, 1961 8vo., brown publisher s cloth with skeletal hand design embossed to upper board; lettered in gilt to backstrip with publisher s device to foot; in the original unclipped pictorial dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping (15s. net); pp. [viii], 9-253, [iii]; an excellent copy, ever-so-slightly bumped at corners and spotted to the upper edge; previous owners name in pencil to front free endpaper; the very good wrapper bright and unfaded, with some creasing and nicks and edges; pushed at foot of spine, leading to a small chip and 1cm closed tear. First impression, first issue, binding A. Thunderball was the first novel to feature the crime Syndicate SPECTRE, the first to feature the villain Ernst Blofeld, and the first in what was to become known as the Blofeld Trilogy . The plot features several other elements from his other novels, and sees a return to two of Fleming s favourite themes; diving and treasure. Set in the Bahamas, the plot centres around the theft of two nuclear weapons, and the subsequent blackmail of Western powers for their safe return. The film adaptation in 1965 saw Sean Connery return in the title role. A lovely copy of the ninth book in the Bond series.

Thunderball is the ninth book in the James Bond series, and the eighth full-length James Bond novel, written by Ian Fleming. It is famous for introducing the criminal organization SPECTRE and the character Ernst Stavro Blofeld.