To celebrate the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth, Imperial War Museum London has produced the first major exhibition devoted to the life and work of the man who created the world’s most famous secret agent, James Bond. Featuring fascinating material, much on public display for the first time, For Your Eyes Only looks at the author and his fictional character in their historical context and examines how much of the Bond novels were imaginary and how far they were based on real people and events.
 
On display is rare material including Fleming’s desk and chair from his Jamaican home Goldeneye, where he wrote all of the Bond novels; the manuscript for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and a working model of an Aston Martin DB5 made for HRH Prince Andrew in 1966, complete with gadgets from the films Thunderball and Goldfinger.
 
The ‘blood-splattered’ shirt worn by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale is displayed for the first time along with prototypes for Rosa Klebb’s flick knife shoes in From Russia with Love; Halle Berry’s bikini from Die Another Day and Goldfinger’s golf shoes which have been lent by the EON Productions’ archive.

Celebrity guests included: Trudie Styler, Tim Burton, Ian Hislop, Frank Skinner, Bonnie Greer, Frank Gardner OBE, Dexter Fletcher, Simon Kassianides, Isla Blair, Julian Glover, Konnie Huq, Ruth Wilson, Trevor Baylis OBE, Matthew Mellon, Noelle Reno, Lynda Bellingham, Olivia Grant.