Thrilling Cities

A CAPTIVATING JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD FROM THE CREATOR OF JAMES BOND Ian Fleming’s world travels and interests, as well as his journalism and wartime experiences, lent authority to everything he wrote. In 1959, the Sunday Times commissioned Fleming to write a series of dispatches from the world’s most beguiling locales. The result was Thrilling Cities, a masterpiece of well-observed travelogue that stands ably alongside the author’s Bond canon. From Hong Kong to Honolulu, New York to Naples, he left the bright main streets for the back alleys, abandoning tourist sites in favor of underground haunts, and mingling with celebrities, gangsters and geishas. The result is a series of vivid snapshots of a mysterious, vanished world from a twentieth century Western perspective. Just like his most famous fictional creation, Ian Fleming was a well-traveled man of the world who knew where to go to find excitement, adventure...and danger. In Thrilling Cities, he takes us along on a journey of international intrigue worthy of James Bond. Fleming’s legendary thriller-writer’s eye uncovers the hidden side of the world’s most exciting cities: A 1950s Travelogue: From the neon-lit streets of Tokyo and Hong Kong to the smoky casinos of Las Vegas and Monte Carlo, experience a world of glamour and grit that has since disappeared. Espionage and Smuggling: Uncover the secrets of gold traffickers in Macao, arms dealers in Beirut, and the tense, divided city of Cold War Berlin. The Shadier Side of Life: Leave the tourist traps behind as Fleming ventures into the back alleys and underground haunts to mingle with gangsters, geishas, and spies. The James Bond Touch: See the world through the eyes of 007’s creator, a man who knew precisely where to find excitement, adventure, and a hint of danger.