| Bond. James Bond. The ultimate British
hero—suave, stoic, gadget-driven—he was more
than anything the necessary invention of a traumatized country
whose self-image as a great power had just been shattered
by the Second World War. Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming,
was an upper-class wastrel who had found purpose and excitement
in the war, and to whom, like so many others, its end was
a terrible disappointment—the elation of survival
stifled by the reality of the new British impotence.
By writing "Casino Royale" and inventing the
magical, parallel world of secret British greatness, Fleming
fabricated a durable icon - one who for millions of bored
former servicemen holding down dreary jobs or for members
of the ruling class, lashed almost daily by the humiliation
of international events throughout the 1950s, made life
more bearable. Written with humour, wit and a great deal
of personal insight and affection, Simon Winder illuminates
and makes sense of the oddities and contrasts which emerged
in Britain as a result of the war.
As victory over Japan was declared in 1945, Britain was
a relieved but also a profoundly traumatized country. It
was a very peculiar trauma, created by having won the war
while in many ways losing it. The war had ruined Britain's
image of itself as a great power. It had only prevailed
through the assistance of the two greatest nations on earth;
and it now found itself bankrupt, dependent and - despite
the efforts of the new Labour reform government - with no
discernible future. This feeling prevailed for decades and
it still seeps into national life today. "The Man Who
Saved Britain" explores this trauma through a figure
who can now be seen as the quintessential British figure
of the time, the great necessary invention who provided
a palliative of sorts to many millions of people: James
Bond.
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Above: Book cover art
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