James Bond entered the world in 1953 with the novel Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. Since then, the British secret agent codenamed 007 has become the biggest media phenomenon of the modern age, surpassing and outlasting previous cultural icons such as Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan and The Saint. Bond has conquered all forms of media - from books, films and radio to comic strips and video games - while inspiring a tidal wave of merchandise and a legion of imitators. Although the world has changed almost beyond recognition since his debut, his continuing relevance is affirmed by the multiple generations who have thrilled to his exploits. This book for the first time provides the full enthralling story of how the espionage fantasies of a rather melancholy journalist came to captivate the world. It exposes the setbacks behind the triumphs, from Fleming’s increasing boredom with his own creation to regular crises over re-casting of the cinematic Bond and legal battles in the 1990s that almost destroyed the film franchise. With the help of Bond scholars, Fleming intimates, Bond film crew and others, James Bond: The Secret History shows how the man with the Licence to Kill overcame every hurdle to become the greatest fantasy hero of all time. With a foreword by Jeremy Duns

The CIA was founded on the best of intentions--to battle the Soviet Empire during the Cold War. For over 50 years, hundreds of men and women in America's foremost intelligence agency have engaged nobly in espionage that was both risky and mysterious, in the name of national security. But the real CIA, as revealed in this eye-opening book, was an organization haunted from the very beginning by missed opportunities, internal rivalries, mismanagement, and Soviet moles. In "The Secret History of the CIA, you will descend into the murky underworld of double and triple agents, of divided loyalties and tortured souls, and of high-stakes operations that played out on virtually every continent. Nationally respected investigative journalist Joseph J. Trento peels away the shroud of secrecy that protected the CIA to reveal how the agency suffered from the profoundly human frailties of those who were chosen to lead it. For over a decade the author conducted countless interviews with legendary spymasters and pored through top-secret files to compile an engrossing history, rich with coloful characters and chilling intrigue. You'll come face-to-face with Igor Orlov, the cold-blooded Soviet double agent who infiltrated the upper echelons of American intelligence; James Angleton, the infamous CIA mole hunter, who implicated the Soviets in John F. Kennedy's assassination; George Weisz, the Hungarian emigrant who worked for the Soviets as he recruited Nazi scientists for the West; and many more. Riveting and majestic in scope, this book takes you down the shadowy corridors of an organization comprised of America's best and brightest, whose thirst for power and influence compromised security, led toincredible mistakes that strengthened the Soviets, and at the same time, resulted in the needless sacrifice of thousands of patriotic agents. "Today, spy wars are conducted in sterile clean rooms by physicists and mathematicians examining pixels and dissecting algorithms. In his new book, Joe Trento returns the reader to the vortex of the Cold War, when a spy's only weapons were wit and guile, deceit and treachery." --James Bamford, bestselling author of "The Puzzle Palace and Body of Secrets "Must reading. Joe Trento has woven together the loves and lives of the mysterious men and women inside the world's premier spy agency. Sometimes they resemble the work of James Bond--and occasionally they perform like the Keystone Cops." --Tom Jariel, correspondent, ABC NEWS "20/20 "With "The Secret History, Joe Trento has totally penetrated the CIA." --Plato Cacheris, attorney to Aldrich Armnes and Robert Hanssen

Assassination has long been more common than anyone likes to admit. Belfield's darkly fascinating expose of the business, its hired killers and their paymasters includes excerpts from CIA, Al Qaeda and Soviet assassination manuals."

Did you know that those aren’t Julia Roberts’ legs on the Pretty Woman poster? In fact, everything from the neck down belongs to model, actress, and body double Shelley Michelle. Do you know who inspired Eric Clapton’s “Layla?” Or the meaning of the “Wilhelm Scream” and how it links Star Wars, Reservoir Dogs, Planet of the Apes, and 57 other films? The Secret History of Entertainment is a collection of little-known stories touching on the strange world of the stars. So if you’d like to know why there are no laughs in The Simpsons or the economics of hiring the Rolling Stones for your next birthday party, dip into this intriguing little book.