In 1997 the Commanders Club celebrated its tenth year as the singular entity involved in preservation and celebration of Ian Fleming's 007.
Looking back over 10 years of such an organisation invariably leads one's thoughts to Jamaica, the cradle of 007.
There Fleming wrote all 13 of the Bond novels while escaping the drab English winters and the "serious" literary set entertained by his wife Anne.
The first of these thrillers, Casino Royale was a way for Fleming to get his mind off the pending end of his bachelorhood at the age of 43, tapping away on a manual Remington in his detached office on the grounds of Goldeneye, the home he built on Jamaica's North Coast at the end of World War II.
Jamaica gave Fleming the balance of privacy and stimulation needed to sustain the killing pace of any invention that becomes a global sensation. Along with writing all the Bond novels there, Fleming set major parts of three of them -- Dr. No, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun -- in country.
Fleming's love of authentic detail closes the loop in making Bond come alive, and at the same time that detail gives the dozens of real locations in 007's career a sense of marvelous fiction.
But if there is any one place to walk with James Bond, Jamaica is it . . yet how much of an echo is left -- or has it all died out? It was time to go back into the past . . To meet Fleming in Jamaica.
What follows is a 60-page essay in 7 chapters, illustrated with photos from an extensive Commanders Club assignment through the birthplace of Bond in the summer of 1997. It will bring you closer to understanding Ian Fleming's Jamaica.
(You may either enjoy the presentation from the beginning by clicking the right arrow below, or jump to specific chapters using the navigation buttons.)
We have also compiled Incidental Intelligence regarding Fleming's Jamaica that will assist you in planning your own visit.
