Thu | Oct 16, 2025

‘On The Tracks of James Bond’ in Jamaica book launched

Published:Saturday | June 21, 2025 | 12:08 AMGeorge Ruddock/Gleaner Writer
‘On The Tracks of James Bond’ author Simon Firth presents a copy of the book to Patrice Laird-Grant, Jamaica’s deputy high commissioner during a courtesy call at the high commission.
‘On The Tracks of James Bond’ author Simon Firth presents a copy of the book to Patrice Laird-Grant, Jamaica’s deputy high commissioner during a courtesy call at the high commission.
On The Tracks of James Bond book cover.
On The Tracks of James Bond book cover.
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LONDON:

British author Simon Firth, who is a confessed fan of James Bond, the fictional British Secret Service agent, has just completed his seventh book featuring Bond, this time with Jamaica as the backdrop.

On The Tracks of James Bond is the title of his latest instalment in a series that included Bond in Côte d’Azur, Bond in Italy, Filming James Bond in The Bahamas and Bond in France - books that look at all the James Bond film locations in these countries.

The book had its official launch on June 7 at St George the Martyr Church Café in Holborn, central London, but before that, Firth visited the Jamaica High Commission in London, where he presented a copy of the book to Deputy High Commissioner Patrice Laird-Grant.

Firth describes his books as celebrating both the countries and James Bond’s time in them, looking at the locations used by the films, the residences in which people close to the 007 history lived and the hotels from which the crew worked.

For Jamaica, it is all about the connection with Ian Fleming, the British writer who created the James Bond character in his books while living in Jamaica, which later led to the 007 films.

Firth said: “Ian Fleming first visited Jamaica in 1943 during the Second World War, and it became his second home, which gave him the inspiration to write the Bond books. I just wanted to find out where he lived and where he drank with his friends. I tried to make sure that we have all of the history, the colour, and the context for Jamaica.”

FANTASTIC FOREWORD

On The Tracks of James Bond explores the history of Ian Fleming’s time in Jamaica, including when he attended an international conference at the Myrtle Bank Hotel in downtown Kingston in 1943 and also when he lived briefly at a house near Mannings Hill in St Andrew before he eventually settled in Oracabessa, St Mary, where he designed a villa now known as Golden Eye.

The foreword for the book is written by Jamaica’s Minister of Entertainment, Sport and Gender, Olivia Babsy Grange, and Firth was very pleased with her contribution.

He said: “It is everything I wish to read in a foreword. She demonstrated professionalism, absolute love of Jamaica, knowledge of James Bond, and also added a personal touch because she writes about remembering as a child wandering around and playing in the garden of Golden Eye. It is a fantastic foreword and very moving.”

Asked what inspired him to write his series of books focused on James Bond, Firth said it all happened by chance.

He said: “In 2019, while my partner and I were living in the South of France, I had only been writing 007 articles and putting them online without any thought of remuneration, and then I was introduced to my publisher, Martijn Mulder, who decided that we could turn the articles into a book.

“Since then, we have published six; Italy: Exploring the James Bond Connections; Filming James Bond in The Bahamas ; On My Way; Côte d’Azur: Exploring the James Bond connections in the South of France; Beauty of Bond: Celebrating 60 Years of the 007 Women and Bond in France.

“The style of writing in the books is friendly and fun, but all the information are accurate as a great deal of research has gone into finding all the locations used in every single James Bond film.

“While we started On The Tracks of James Bond in Jamaica at the Golden Eye resort, we take the reader on a clockwise tour of Jamaica, from St Mary to Port Antonio, on to Kingston and then the southcoast past Alligator Pond and Savanna-la-Mar, introducing them to all the many bars and eateries along the way. So it’s not just about James Bond, but it’s also an alternative tour guide to Jamaica.”

Firth describes On the Tracks of James Bond in Jamaica as quintessential because 95 per cent of the persons he used in getting information for the book are Jamaicans as he relied on their words, stories, and memories.

While the book will be available for purchase on Amazon, it will also be available in most five-star hotels in Jamaica, including Half Moon, Jamaica Inn, Round Hill, S Hotel, and the Liguanea Club in Kingston. Firth is also planning a book tour in Jamaica later this year.

Firth says this latest book has been dedicated to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, both former producers of the James Bond films, having stepped down from their roles after Amazon acquired MGM Studios in 2022.

Ironically, he noted that Eon Productions, which Wilson and Broccoli both ran, started life in Jamaica in 1962 with the first James Bond film, Dr No, and ended in Jamaica with the last Bond film, No Time to Die, in 2021.

The book in Jamaica is available for purchase at Amazon or www.onthetracksof007.com.