John Pearson first met Ian Fleming in 1954 when he was a young journalist, and Fleming offered him a job as his assistant on the Sunday Times Atticus column. Pearson got to know Fleming well, and after his death in 1964, was commissioned to write what would become his highly successful Authorised Biography of Ian Fleming. While researching this book, Pearson was struck by the way the character and life of James Bond overlapped with that of his creator, which gave him the idea of writing what become the parallel Authorised Biography of 007. Since then Pearson wrote many successful biographies, including that of the Kray Twins, Donald Campwell and Barbara Cartland. He died in 2021.

"Here is Ian, his cushions still warm, his gumboots in the porch, his oversize Boodles glasses on the sideboard, his presence fresh in the memory of his friends (and enemies)." Fergus Fleming

John Pearson first met Ian Fleming in 1954 when he was a young journalist, and Fleming offered him a job as his assistant on the Sunday Times Atticus column. Pearson got to know Fleming well, and after his death in 1964, was commissioned to write what would become his highly successful Authorised Biography of Ian Fleming. While researching this book, Pearson was struck by the way the character and life of James Bond overlapped with that of his creator, which gave him the idea of writing what become the parallel Authorised Biography of 007. Since then Pearson wrote many successful biographies, including that of the Kray Twins, Donald Campwell and Barbara Cartland. He died in 2021.

"Here is Ian, his cushions still warm, his gumboots in the porch, his oversize Boodles glasses on the sideboard, his presence fresh in the memory of his friends (and enemies)." Fergus Fleming

John Pearson first met Ian Fleming in 1954 when he was a young journalist, and Fleming offered him a job as his assistant on the Sunday Times Atticus column. Pearson got to know Fleming well, and after his death in 1964, was commissioned to write what would become his highly successful Authorised Biography of Ian Fleming. While researching this book, Pearson was struck by the way the character and life of James Bond overlapped with that of his creator, which gave him the idea of writing what become the parallel Authorised Biography of 007. Since then Pearson wrote many successful biographies, including that of the Kray Twins, Donald Campwell and Barbara Cartland. He died in 2021.

"Here is Ian, his cushions still warm, his gumboots in the porch, his oversize Boodles glasses on the sideboard, his presence fresh in the memory of his friends (and enemies)." Fergus Fleming