Travel Pick: Pop Culture and Cinema in England
For Your Eyes Only

This exhibition marks the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth, and is  devoted to the life and work of the man who created the world’s most famous secret agent, James Bond.  For Your Eyes Only looks at the author and his fictional character in their historical context and examines how much of the Bond novels were imaginary and how far they were based on real people
and events. The show explores the early life of Ian Fleming, his wartime career and work as a journalist and travel writer and how, as an author, he drew upon his own experiences to create the iconic character of James Bond that continues to have global appeal. Lastly, the exhibit illustrates how the Cold War, a war of spies and technology, provided the stage in which Bond could operate.

On display is Fleming’s desk and chair from his Jamaican home Goldeneye, where he wrote all of the Bond novels; a map of the Mercury News Network established by Ian Fleming in the 1950s showing where all Sunday Times foreign correspondents were based; the jacket worn by Fleming on the Dieppe Raid of 1942; a selection of annotated Bond manuscripts; the Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver presented to Fleming by the Colt company in 1964; the manuscript for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and a working model of an Aston Martin DB5 made for HRH Prince Andrew in 1966, complete with gadgets from the films Thunderball and Goldfinger.

The ‘blood-splattered’ shirt worn by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale is displayed for the first time along with prototypes for Rosa Klebb’s flick knife shoes in From Russia with Love; Halle Berry’s bikini from Die Another Day and Goldfinger’s golf shoes which have been lent by the EON Productions’ archive.