The Book of Bond or Every Man His Own 007

The Book of Bond or Every Man His Own 007, written by Kingsley Amis, is a manual for prospective agents on how to live like Agent 007, illustrated with examples taken from the Fleming novels. The book was first published by Jonathan Cape in 1965.

A tongue-in-cheek work, published by the same company that issued the Bond novels, the first hardcover edition of this book was published with a false slipcover printed with the title The Bible to be Read as Literature on the inside (see image of the open cover on the left, photo courtesy of the Include Me Out blog). In one of the early Bond novels, Bond carries his gun in a hollowed out book of this title.

A glorious guide to easy Do-It-Yourself Bondmanship... Authoritatively compiled by Bill Tanner - M's No. 2 and a close friend of Bond's for many years. Instant 00... how to look... what to wear, eat, drink and smoke... and how to acquire a Bondswoman of your very, very own!

Kingsley Amis used the pseudonym Lt.-Col. William ("Bill") Tanner for this book. In Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, Bill Tanner is M's chief of staff and a recurring character throughout the series.

Amis, a close friend of Fleming's, was also responsible for two other works related to the James Bond series. In 1965, he wrote The James Bond Dossier, a collection of essays on the book and film series, and in 1968, under the pseudonym Robert Markham, he wrote the Bond novel Colonel Sun.

The Book of Bond or Every Man His Own 007 is now a collectible and might fetch a high price. Find second hand copies on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and eBay.

Another good website where you can find this book is AbeBooks.co.uk, which offers a great selection of paperback and hardcover copies of the Book of Bond.