James Roland Fleming (26 February 1944 – 22 November 2024) was an English author and editor of the journal ''

The Book Collector ''The Book Collector'' is a London-based journal that deals with all aspects of the book. It is published quarterly and exists in both paper and digital form. It prints independent opinions on subjects ranging from typography to national heritag ...

'' from 2018 to 2024. He was the son of Richard Fleming who served in Scottish regiments during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(

Lovat Scouts The Lovat Scouts was a British Army unit first formed during the Second Boer War as a Scottish Highland yeomanry regiment. They were the first known military unit to wear a ghillie suit, and were renowned for their elite reconnaissance capabili ...

and

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, the Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service ...

) and nephew to spy author

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

.Fleming, James. 2017. “My Uncle Ian.” ''The Book Collector'' 66 (1): 11–14. Fleming lived for the last 20 years in the remote North of Scotland in order to concentrate on his writing. This is where his Charlie Doig Russian series gestated. Well respected in the nearest town to his estate he became an honorary "Wicker" and fully immersed himself in community life. He wrote two

historical novels Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

, the first in 2000, ''The Temple of Optimism'', which was on the longlist for the 2000

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

and then in 2003, ''Thomas Gage,'' about the coming of the railway to Norfolk in the 1850s. In 2006 Fleming wrote the first in a trilogy of

thrillers Thriller is a genre of fiction with numerous, often overlapping, subgenres, including crime, horror, and detective fiction. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving their audiences heightened feelings of suspe ...

, ''Cold Blood.'' Two more followed: ''White Blood'' (2008) and ''Rising Blood'' (2009) that featured the Scottish/Russian character "Charlie Doig." His 2021 book, ''Bond behind the Iron Curtain,'' examined the Russian critique of Ian Fleming. From 2018 Fleming was the editor of ''The Book Collector''. His essay on the process of indexing the backfile, “The Price of Passion: Indexing ''The Book Collector,''" illuminated the journal's history. In 2023 a special issue of ''The Book Collector'' was devoted to ''

Printing and the Mind of Man ''Printing and the Mind of Man'' is a book first published in 1967 and based on an exhibition in 1963. ''PMM'', as it is usually abbreviated, is regarded as a standard bibliographical reference, and offers a survey of the impact of printed book ...

'' in which Fleming reviewed the correspondence of

Percy Muir Percy Horace Muir (1894–1979) was a "distinguished"Andrea Immel"Muir, Percy" Jack Zipes, ed., ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature'', Oxford University Press, 2016, online edition. Retrieved 14 November 2023. English antiquarian boo ...

and John Carter, key organizers of the exhibit. Fleming died in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

on 22 November 2024, at the age of 80.

Works

* * * * * *Fleming, James. (2018). "Cherry: A Bibliophile in Antarctica." ''The Book Collector'' 67 (no 3) Autumn: 499-513. * Barry, Rebecca Rego.
James Bond & Russia: An Interview with James Fleming.
''Fine Books and Collections'' (July 2022).

References

Bibliography

Personal website
- archive.org copy of 16 February 2009

on

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

UK website
Author bio
on

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

website
Review of "Cold Blood"
in ''The Times'' (2009)] {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, James 1944 births 2024 deaths 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English novelists English historical novelists Writers from London English thriller writers English male novelists English editors

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

Fleming family