Casino Royale

The story, without spoilers

Le Chiffre looks after money for an organisation tied to Moscow, and he has lost some of it. His plan is to win it back at a high-stakes baccarat game in Royale-les-Eaux, an invented resort on the French coast. London's plan is simpler: put its best card player on the other side of the table and leave him broke.

Bond does not work alone. Vesper Lynd arrives from the Treasury with the stake, René Mathis of French intelligence handles the local ground, and the American Felix Leiter watches on behalf of Washington. The casino is public, crowded and full of people who may be watching him back.

Fleming takes his time over the game itself: the odds, the rituals and the nerve it takes to sit still while a fortune moves. Away from the table, the rules stop applying, and the question becomes how far an agent can trust anyone who shares his mission.

Can I start here?

Yes. This is where Fleming introduced Bond, M, Leiter and Mathis, and the later books assume you know how this one sets him up. It is also one of the shorter novels.

What stands out

The Bond here is more exposed and less polished than the screen version. Much of the tension sits in a card game rather than a chase.

• Fleming began writing it at Goldeneye, his house in Jamaica, in February 1952.
• The publisher records favourable early reviews in Time, The Times Literary Supplement and The Spectator.

Content notes

Suggested age 16+. Torture, threats of violence, sexual relationships, heavy smoking and dated attitudes to women.

Book and film

Adapted three times: a 1954 American TV play with Barry Nelson (which made Bond an American), a 1967 comedy loosely using the title, with David Niven, and the 2006 Eon film with Daniel Craig, which keeps the card-game core.

Where it is set

• France: Royale-les-Eaux Fictional

Real and fictional Bond places

Main characters

James Bond, Vesper Lynd, Le Chiffre, René Mathis, Felix Leiter, M.