Ian Fleming's character James Bond is a mainstay of Anglo-American popular culture. Buckton asserts that whereas James Bond is not necessarily Fleming's alter-ego, as some biographers suggest, the people, events, and locations of Fleming's life were the source material for his novels.... Buckton makes a compelling argument that Fleming's Bond novels reveal much about the heyday and decline of Britain's imperial vistas.

Choice Reviews

"Like an accomplished psychologist, Buckton puts Fleming (and therefore Bond) on the chaise longue and analyses every striking similarity or remarkable deviation. Also interesting are Buckton's detailed look at Fleming's work outside Bond, such as the children's novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and - perhaps most interesting - a never published article by Fleming about the oil state Kuwait.”

The 00-Files

As Oliver Buckton's new Fleming biography, The World Is Not Enough, relays, all the superficial things that could make a young man happy were bountifully Ian's; and yet he suffered hardships more deeply than many of his friends and family.

The New Republic

The World is Not Enough is.....certainly a biography for our time and richly merits a place on the shelf next to Pearson and Lycett.

Artistic License Renewed

For the millions of fans of Bond films and novels, 'The World is Not Enough' offers an in-depth look at Bond's creator, Ian Fleming. (Paul Davis)

Washington Times

Through his extensive research [Buckton] has succeeded admirably in providing an extraordinary major new study of Fleming and explores in more detail the key points of Fleming's life that are often missing in other biographies. In so doing he provides an exciting and refreshing read of a path well-trodden, and offers us the first in-depth exploration of the entire process of Fleming's writings from inception to conception.... The biography provides a critical analysis of the Bond films and how Eon Productions has both influenced and distorted how the public view Fleming's writings. Buckton is to be applauded for his pacy, flamboyant, finely balanced, well-researched biography of one of the most famous spies in the history of espionage.

Aspects of History