From Russia, With Love by Fleming, Ian - 1957

London: Jonathan Cape, 1957 First edition, first impression of the fifth novel in the James Bond series. Publisher's black cloth, with a revolver and rose illustration to the front board in metallic silver and red, lettered in silver; in the original pictorial dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping, with an illustration of a Smith & Wesson revolver with a rose to the front panel, lettered in black. Near fine, with a hint of light rubbing to the spine, else bright and clean; price-clipped dust jacket, with a few minor chips and some light offsetting to the spine ends, some rubbing to the folds, bright and unfaded spine, light soiling to the otherwise clean wrappers. Overall, a very fresh and sturdy 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 counterintelligence 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/Dust Jacket Included. Illus. by Chopping, Richard.