Goldfinger is the seventh novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. Written in January and February 1958, it was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 23 March 1959. The story centres on the investigation by the British Secret Service operative James Bond into the gold-smuggling activities of Auric Goldfinger, who is also suspected by MI6 of being connected to SMERSH, the Soviet counter-intelligence organisation. As well as establishing the background to the smuggling operation, Bond uncovers a much larger plot: Goldfinger plans to steal the gold reserves of the United States from Fort Knox.
First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape
An Aston Martin DB Mark III, as driven by Bond
A 1909 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, as driven by Goldfinger
The clubhouse at Royal St George's Golf Club
Ian Lancaster Fleming 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 father was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing.
Ian Fleming
The Glenelg War Memorial, listing Valentine Fleming, Ian's father
Eton College, Fleming's alma mater from 1921 to 1927
The Admiralty, where Fleming worked in the Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War