JAMES BOND
FACT FILES

Most of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and short stories have been adapted for a younger audience and adult learners. The paperbacks were issued by several publishers and aimed at readers with different levels of English comprehension.

Seven of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels were originally adapted for young readers in the 1970s and became popular editions in school libraries across the UK. Adapted by Patrick Nobes and published by Hutchinson & Co Limited under their ‘Bulls-eye’ imprint, the novels were abridged, child-friendly editions of Ian Fleming's thrillers, and were reprinted many times throughout the 1980s. Three of the paperbacks had covers painted by Oliver Elmes (1934-2011), who also worked as a graphic designer at the BBC. It is very likely the DOCTOR NO cover was also painted by Elmes, as it very much in the same style, although no artist is credited in the book. Oliver Elmes produced many famous television series logos and title sequences including The Good Life (1975-78), and the final three series of the original run of Doctor Who starring Sylvester McCoy (1987-89).

The titles were published across a five-year period in no particular order. Ian Fleming's first novel CASINO ROYALE was the last title to be published in 1978. The famous opening lines in chapter one was adapted into simplified vocabulary for the younger audience:

“The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. Then the soul-erosion produced by high gambling — a compost of greed and fear and nervous tension — becomes unbearable and the senses awake and revolt from it.”

CASINO ROYALE Chapter 1 – The Secret Agent

This became:

“The smell and smoke in the casino at three in the morning made James Bond feel sick. He suddenly knew that he was tired. He always knew when his mind and body had had enough. It was time to rest, or he would begin to make mistakes.”

Several of the editions also had re-titled chapters to make them more understandable to younger readers.

In the famous 1964 interview for Canadian Television, Ian Fleming was asked what he thought of the criticism levelled at the sex and violence in his novels. The author claimed that he wrote the James Bond adventures for “Warm-blooded heterosexual adults; you know, in beds and aeroplanes and railway trains. They are not meant for schoolboys”. Although Fleming admitted that teenagers were reading his books and presumably enjoying them, one must wonder what he would have made of these new sanitised versions of his novels that were now aimed directly at children. Ironically, for many readers this would have been their first exposure to the literary world of James Bond. Presumably, due to the more adult nature of the content of Ian Fleming's 1962 novel THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, this title was not adapted for younger readers.

Also published in 1973 by the Longman Group UK Limited as part of their ‘Structural Readers Fiction’ series was Ian Fleming's 1960 short story anthology FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. Once again, the text was adapted for schools and younger readers. The anthology contained 14 illustrations and renamed four of the short stories. FROM A VIEW TO A KILL became James Bond in the Forest, QUANTUM OF SOLACE was re-titled The Air Hostess, RISICO was changed to A Risky Business, and THE HILDEBRAND RARITY became The Rare Fish.

THUNDERBALL was later published in 1978, and again in 1979 with a different cover. Both editions are illustrated with black & white stills from the 1965 film version. Once again, many chapter titles have been changed to make them more understandable for their target audience. Chapter 16 Swimming the Gauntlet becomes the more simplified Under the Water; whilst chapter 23 Naked Warfare is turned into the more child-friendly War Under the Sea.

Three novels were also adapted by the Oxford University Press as part of their ‘Progressive English Readers’ series in 1978 with cover art by Tomaz Mok, and later reprinted in the 1980s. In 1992 YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE was published in Hong Kong, now adapted for level 4 vocabulary readers, and with a new cover illustration by Wu Siu Kau. The 1993 Hong Kong edition of FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE was similarly adapted for level 4 vocabulary, and again featured a new cover by Wu Siu Kau, showing James Bond and Tatiana Romanova with the Spektor Cypher Machine on board the Orient Express.

Three Ian Fleming novels were also published as part of the Oxford University Press Alpha Thriller series, with covers photographed by Terry Sims and hand-tinting by Terri Lawler. This series was aimed at adolescents and adult students of English as a foreign language. This series did not include chapter titles.

Another incomplete series of Ian Fleming's novels was later published by Macmillan Heinemann from 2006. Again, these were adapted versions of the original story aimed at younger readers, or those with English as a second language. They included notes about the author, a political and historical context for the story, and illustrations of the characters (by several uncredited artists). The titles were also issued as a CD audio pack, sometimes featuring different cover artwork; these also included a useful glossary and additional exercises. The structure and vocabulary of the books was controlled to suit the students’ ability at each level. The Macmillan Reader series were published at six levels: Starter, Beginner, Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate and Upper. The six James Bond titles are in the Pre-Intermediate to Upper level of comprehension.

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