The Folio Society's illustrated edition of Thunderball

The Folio Society has released their seventh illustrated Ian Fleming novel: Thunderball.

This title in the 007 collectors’ series, the luxurious Thunderball edition, features once again original illustrations and a pictorial slipcase by acclaimed illustrator Fay Dalton.

Available at FolioSociety.com

Thunderball is the Bond story that has everything: exotic locations, super villains, thrills, double-crosses and Bond at his sharpest and most capable. It introduces one of Ian Fleming’s greatest villains – the nefarious Ernst Stavro Blofeld – and one of his most compelling female characters, Domino, a fierce and beautiful woman with a fondness for the good life. Initially part of Blofeld’s inner circle, fate throws her into Bond’s arms and she proves herself to be a dangerous woman to cross. Bond himself grows in complexity with each novel and here he examines his own choices and mortality, as well as sparing with his CIA counterpart, Felix Leiter.

Fleming used much of his own background and experience as inspiration for the small details as well as larger plot points. Bond’s medical record, which earns him a stay in a health spa – noting that he smokes sixty cigarettes and ingests at least half a bottle of spirits daily – was roughly based on Fleming’s own lifestyle. The night time underwater investigation of the Disco Volante was drawn from the ill-fated reconnaissance mission of MI6 agent Lionel ‘Buster’ Crabb, who vanished while investigating the Ordzhonikidze, a Soviet cruiser moored at Portsmouth Harbour in 1956.

Illustration ©2019 Fay Dalton from The Folio Society edition of Ian Fleming’s Thunderball

London-based illustrator Fay Dalton continues her celebrated work on The Folio Society’s Bond collection, bringing fans more of her glamourous, sexy and dangerous interpretations of Fleming’s iconic creation. Here Dalton explores the darker side of the adventure, depicting Blofeld’s grisly execution of an underling and the brutish Emilio Largo, doused in hellish light and ready to extract the information he needs from his victim by whatever means necessary. Balancing these sinister visions are glittering images of the casino, the cool spectacle of a plane sinking beneath the waves, and the sunlit tropical fantasy of Bond carrying a bikini-clad girl from the ocean.

Illustration ©2019 Fay Dalton from The Folio Society edition of Ian Fleming’s Thunderball

Book details
- Bound in blocked cloth
- Set in Miller Text with Folio Bond Condensed as display
- 272 pages
- 7 full-page colour illustrations
- Pictorial slipcase
- 9" x 6¼"
- Price: UK £36.95 | US $62.95 | Can $72.95 | Aus $82.95

Earlier titles in this series are Casino Royale, From Russia With Love, Dr No, Moonraker, Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever.

The Folio Society edition of Ian Fleming’s Thunderball, illustrated by Fay Dalton, is available exclusively from www.FolioSociety.com