From Russia, With Love

London: Jonathan Cape, 1957 First edition, first impression in Gilbert's Binding A (no priority determined), with "the sexuality" on page 18, line 1, and "ice twinkled" on page 136, line 8. Publisher's black cloth, centrally stamped with a silver revolver in front of a metallic-red rose with a silver stem, lettered in silver and red to spine; in the original pictorial dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping with the illustration of a sawn-off Smith & Wesson revolver placed across a red rose to front panel. About near fine book with light soiling to front board and front edge of text block; in a very good unclipped dust jacket with light toning to spine, some wear to spine joints and spine ends, small closed tear to top of rear panel. Overall, a bright and lovely copy. Gilbert A5a (1.1). From Russia, With Love has an archetypal Cold War plotline in which the democratic West must defend itself from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In this novel, Bond faces SMERSH, the Russian counter-intelligence agency whose acronymic name stems from the Russian phrase "Death to Spies!" SMERSH seeks to undermine the British intelligence service by killing one of their 00 agents, and they have chosen James Bond as their target victim. From Russia, With Love introduces two of the most memorable female Russian spies: the glamorous seductress Tatiana Romanova, who baited womanizer 007 into SMERSH'S clutches, and Rosa Klebb, the Head of SMERSH's department of operations. Klebb possesses one of the more unique weapons in the Bond series: poison-dipped daggers that shoot out from her shoes. From Russia, With Love is largely considered to mark the turning point in Fleming's career as a successful writer.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Very Good. Illus. by Chopping, Richard.