From Russia with Love and Dr No and Goldfinger

The arrival of James Bond in Modern Classics at last acknowledges Fleming's remarkable place in British fiction. The creator of an entire genre and the inventor of the most widely recognised figure in British literature since Sherlock Holmes, Fleming has a presence and flair now denied to most other writers of the 1950s. These three novels show Fleming at his peak - it would be hard to argue whether "Rosa Klebb", "Dr No" or "Goldfinger" have greater grandeur or repulsiveness - with three plots ofderanged implausibility and many of the dazzling set-pieces that made the early films so memorable.