LEGENDS NEVER DIE: HOW JAMES BOND BECAME IAN FLEMING’S COLD WAR ALLEGORY FOR THE BRITISH FORTITUDE SHOWN IN WORLD WAR II

Through the devastation of World War II and the potential destruction at the hands of the Soviet Union, Ian Fleming’s imagination gave the West a hero; that hero was found in the form of literary hero James Bond. Though works of fiction, the James Bond novels were based largely upon both real people and historical events. Ian Fleming masterfully created a world that combined fiction and history to deliver a powerful Cold War allegory. That Cold War allegory placed James Bond as the representative of the British fortitude showcased by the British people and their leader Sir Winston Churchill during the Second World War.

This writing will focus on four periods of Fleming’s life; 1) his early life in the shadow of his late father, 2) his time as an amateur spy during the buildup to World War II, 3) his imaginative plots during World War II, 4) Fleming’s impact on Cold War culture. These periods of his life will all be examined to showcase the impacts they had on the creation of James Bond, and the impact James Bond had on the Cold War. This work will also offer a look into Fleming’s gluttonous lifestyle, legends credited to him, the impact of World War II and the Cold War on the James Bond novels, and the British resolve that encapsulated the will of 007.