129-455: (Redirected from Dr No ) Dr. No may refer to: Dr. No (novel) , a 1958 James Bond novel by Ian Fleming Dr. No (film) , a 1962 film based on the novel Dr. No (soundtrack) Julius No , the title character in the Fleming novel and film adaptation Dr. No (serial killer) , a nickname given to serial killer Samuel Legg III who
258-529: A code name , and has been adhered to by all subsequent directors of SIS when signing documents to retain anonymity. The service's performance during the First World War was mixed, because it was unable to establish a network in Germany itself. Most of its results came from military and commercial intelligence collected through networks in neutral countries, occupied territories, and Russia. During
387-609: A "quiet and well-argued article", thought the critic's conclusion was naïve, and asked "Since when has it been remarkable in a work of entertainment that it should lack a specific 'ethical frame of reference'?" Raven continued, saying Fleming "by reason of his cool and analytical intelligence, his informed use of technical facts, his plausibility, sense of pace, brilliant descriptive powers and superb imagination, provides sheer entertainment such as I, who must read many novels, am seldom lucky enough to find". In March 1956 Fleming and his friend Ivar Bryce accompanied Robert Cushman Murphy (of
516-577: A British special operations flight to airlift a captured V-2 Rocket with the assistance of the Polish resistance. Notably, Polish secret agent Jan Karski played a crucial role in delivering the first Allied intelligence on the Holocaust , providing the British with harrowing information about Nazi atrocities. Moreover, through a female Polish agent, the British established a channel of communication with
645-458: A Chinese-German operator of a guano mine on the fictional Caribbean island of Crab Key. Bond travels to the island and meets Honeychile Rider and later Doctor No. The novel began as a 1956 screenplay for the producer Henry Morgenthau III for a proposed television show entitled Commander Jamaica . When those plans foundered, Fleming adapted the ideas as the basis for a novel, provisionally titled The Wound Man . The book's eponymous villain
774-544: A Democratic Oregon governor known for vetoing bills passed by the Republican legislature Ian Paisley , a religious leader and First Minister of Northern Ireland, known for political obstinacy Ron Paul , a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas and physician, who frequently cast dissenting votes Stuart Lyon Smith , a Canadian politician, Ontario Provincial Parliament member and psychiatrist, known for opposing spending and pessimism Tommy Thompson ,
903-448: A Fu Manchu novel; other devices from Rohmer's novels included Doctor No's secret lair and the use of the mad scientist trope . After Diamonds Are Forever was published in 1956, Fleming received a letter from Geoffrey Boothroyd , a Bond enthusiast and gun expert, who criticised the author's choice of firearm for Bond. Boothroyd suggested that Bond should swap his Beretta for a Walther PPK 7.65 mm, an exchange that made it to
1032-419: A Wisconsin governor and state legislator known for blocking bills Andries Treurnicht , a South African Leader of Opposition, leader of the "no" campaign against the 1992 apartheid referendum See also [ edit ] Dr. Know (disambiguation) Dr. No's Oxperiment , an album by Oh No Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
1161-567: A beginning of a shift in British foreign policy, Prime Minister Chamberlain announced in the House of Commons that "any threat to the vital interest of France" would lead to a British declaration of war. One of MI6’s most successful operations before the war started in April 1939 when an Australian businessman living in London, Sidney Cotton , who was already engaged in aerial photographic espionage for
1290-651: A café in Venlo almost on the German border to meet a representative of the Wehrmacht generals, but the meeting proved to be an ambush as instead a party of the Sicherheitsdienst officers crossed over the border. The SS shot and killed a Dutch intelligence officer, Dirk Klop, who assisted with settling up the meeting and kidnapped Best and Stevens at gunpoint. The Venlo incident made the British government wary for
1419-636: A comic strip. The story was adapted in 1962 as the first film in the Bond series , with Sean Connery in the lead role; in 2008 BBC Radio 4 broadcast a version with Toby Stephens as Bond. After recovering from serious poisoning inflicted by the SMERSH agent Rosa Klebb (in From Russia, with Love ) the Secret Service agent James Bond is sent by his superior, M , on an undemanding mission to
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#17327798899661548-480: A conveniently accessible safety-valve for the boiling sensibility of modern man." This reviewer also conceded that while "the casualties take place on a somewhat narrower front than usual, they are heavy". In April 1958, Fleming wrote to The Manchester Guardian in defence of his work, referring to both that paper's review of Dr. No and the article in The Twentieth Century . Fleming partly accepted
1677-421: A day." By the time he returned to London in late February, he had completed a 206-page first draft, which he initially titled The Wound Man . Although Fleming did not date the events within his novels, John Griswold and Henry Chancellor—both of whom wrote books for Ian Fleming Publications —have identified different timelines based on episodes and situations within the novel series as a whole. Chancellor put
1806-436: A fight with a captive giant squid , which he defeats by using improvised weapons. After his escape he encounters Rider, who had been pegged out to be eaten by crabs; they had ignored her and she managed to escape. Bond kills No by taking over the guano-loading machine at the docks and diverting the flow of guano to bury him alive. Bond and Rider then escape from No's complex in the "dragon" buggy, sail back to Jamaica and notify
1935-508: A holiday assignment, which Bond resents. The writer Raymond Benson —who later wrote a series of Bond novels—sees M at his most authoritarian in Dr. No , punishing Bond in terms of both stripping him of his gun and then sending him on what both Bond and M considered at first to be a "soft" assignment. Honeychile Rider is one of three women in the Bond canon who have been scarred by rape. This follows
2064-408: A long-standing tradition of insurgency organizations, which had been passed down through generations. These organizations maintained networks in emigrant Polish communities in Germany and France. A substantial part of the Polish resistance activity was clandestine and involved the establishment of cellular intelligence networks. The occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany also placed the Polish people in
2193-475: A luxurious facility carved into the mountain. No tells Bond that he is working with the Russians and has built an elaborate underground facility from which he can sabotage US test missiles launched from Cape Canaveral . He had previously been a member of a Chinese tong , but after he stole a large sum of money from their treasury, he was captured by the organisation. The tong's leaders had No's hands cut off as
2322-549: A major role in the "Dutch War Scare" when it reported to London that Germany was about to invade the Netherlands with the aim of using the Dutch airfields to launch a strategic bombing campaign that would achieve a "knock out blow" by destroying London along with the rest of Britain's cities. The intelligence behind the "Dutch War Scare" was false, intended to achieve a change in British foreign policy and had its desired effect on
2451-518: A meeting took place without police presence. There, the two SIS agents were duly abducted by the SS. In 1940, journalist and Soviet agent Kim Philby applied for a vacancy in Section D of SIS, and was vetted by his friend and fellow Soviet agent Guy Burgess . When Section D was absorbed by Special Operations Executive (SOE) in summer of 1940, Philby was appointed as an instructor in black propaganda at
2580-425: A pattern where the women Bond comes across are somehow different to the norm, although the cultural historian Jeremy Black points out that this gives Bond an opportunity to help and save both Rider and the others. Other female characters in the Bond series have flaws, and Rider has a broken nose—the result of the rape she suffered. The cultural historians Janet Woollacott and Tony Bennett , in their analysis of
2709-844: A position there. He was able to alert the NKVD about all British intelligence on the Soviets—including what the American OSS had shared with the British about the Soviets. Despite these difficulties the service nevertheless conducted substantial and successful operations in both occupied Europe and in the Middle East and Far East where it operated under the cover name Inter-Services Liaison Department (ISLD). In August 1945 Soviet intelligence officer Konstantin Volkov tried to defect to
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#17327798899662838-603: A result, MI6's number one priority with regard to Germany was collect intelligence on the Luftwaffe, the branch of the Wehrmacht that British decision-makers feared the most. To assist with studying German industrial production, the Industrial Intelligence Center under Desmond Morton was founded in 1934 with a special mandate to study German aircraft production. However, Admiral Sinclair complained in 1935 that MI6's annual budget for operations around
2967-443: A schoolboy bully, the mechanical, two-dimensional sex-longings of a frustrated adolescent, and the crude, snob-cravings of a suburban adult". Johnson saw no positives in Dr. No , saying that "Mr Fleming has no literary skill, the construction of the book is chaotic, and entire incidents and situations are inserted, and then forgotten, in a haphazard manner." Perhaps these are superficial excuses. Perhaps Bond's blatant heterosexuality
3096-493: A secure base from which to operate—in support of his argument. According to Panek, in his examination of 20th century British spy novels, Dr. No "shows a shift towards emphasizing the intellect and organizing power of the individual", as opposed to a group or nation. Black considers that although it is American assets that are under threat from the Soviet Union, it is British power, through the British agent, that concludes
3225-622: A spy, how to make contact with, and worm vital information out of unsuspecting experts". It was not until the Second World War that the "methodical training" of agents that has been the hallmark of British intelligence started. A number of MI6 agents like MI5 agents were former colonial police officers while MI6 displayed a strong bias against recruiting men with university degrees as universities were considered within MI6 to be bastions of "effete intellectualism". Claude Dansey , who served as
3354-430: A unique position to gather intelligence on the enemy, as they were often used as forced laborers across the continent. This proximity to key locations and military installations allowed them to provide valuable insights to the British intelligence services. The liaison between the British and Polish intelligence was facilitated by SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) officer Wilfred Dunderdale . The reports exchanged between
3483-487: A vital basis for the later British continuation of the war effort. During the war, British cryptologists decrypted a vast number of messages enciphered on Enigma. The intelligence gleaned from this source, codenamed " Ultra " by the British, was a substantial aid to the Allied war effort. Sinclair died on 4 November 1939, after an illness, and was replaced as C by Lt Col. Stewart Menzies (Horse Guards), who had been with
3612-459: A warning to others, and then shot him. Because No's heart was on the right side of his body , the bullet missed it and he survived. Interested in the ability of the human body to withstand and survive pain, No forces Bond to navigate his way through an obstacle course constructed in the facility's ventilation system. Bond is kept under observation as he suffers electric shocks, burns and an encounter with large, venomous spiders. Bond's ordeal ends in
3741-590: A way to keep Russia in the war, but Reilly soon became involved in a plot to overthrow the Bolsheviks. After the war, resources were significantly reduced but during the 1920s, SIS established a close operational relationship with the diplomatic service. In August 1919, Cumming created the new passport control department, providing diplomatic cover for agents abroad. The post of Passport Control Officer provided operatives with diplomatic immunity . Circulating Sections established intelligence requirements and passed
3870-605: Is 80,000 words long, with enough plot for 8,000 and enough originality for 800." Glendy Culligan of The Washington Post described the novel as a "thin little whodunit which rocked the British Empire and shook the English Establishment", adding "Bully for it!" Culligan admitted that "Confidentially though, we enjoyed Dr. No , and if this be sick, sick, sick, gentlemen, make the most of it." James Sandoe in his book review for The New York Herald Tribune
3999-511: Is a subconscious protest against the current fashion for sexual confusion. Perhaps the violence springs from a psychosomatic rejection of Welfare wigs, teeth and spectacles and Bond's luxury meals are simply saying "no" to toad-in-the-hole and tele-bickies. Who can say? Who can say whether or not Dr Fu Manchu was a traumatic image of Sax Rohmer 's father? Who, for the matter of that, cares? Ian Fleming, letter to The Manchester Guardian Maurice Richardson, of The Observer , considered
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4128-415: Is closer to the intellectual "gentleman crook" of the golden age of detective fiction , and the novel's focus is on action at the expense of character development and depth of plot. Benson describes the "Fleming Sweep" as taking the reader from one chapter to another using "hooks" at the end of chapters to heighten tension and pull the reader onto the next. He feels that the "Fleming Sweep briskly propels
4257-478: Is much more fun to think up fantastic situations and mix Bond up in them. Ian Fleming Fleming used known brand names and everyday details to produce a sense of realism, which the writer Kingsley Amis calls "the Fleming effect". Amis describes "the imaginative use of information, whereby the pervading fantastic nature of Bond's world ... [is] bolted down to some sort of reality, or at least counter-balanced." The journalist and writer Matthew Parker sees
4386-508: Is mutually felt. According to Lindner, Quarrel is "an indispensable ally" who had assisted Bond in Live and Let Die . Benson sees no racial discrimination in the relationship between the two men and acknowledges that Bond feels genuine remorse and sadness at Quarrel's death. Dr. No was released on 31 March 1958 in the UK as a hardcover edition by the publishers Jonathan Cape . A paperback edition
4515-510: Is physically disfigured, like many of Bond's later adversaries; No is 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) tall, with steel pincers for hands and has dextrocardia . Bond describes him as "a giant venomous worm wrapped in grey tin-foil". Benson considers that No is "a wickedly successful villain", the best since Hugo Drax in Moonraker , while Time thought No to be "one of the less forgettable characters in modern fiction". Quarrel
4644-506: Is placed in his bed while he is sleeping. With the help of an old friend, Quarrel , Bond surreptitiously visits Crab Key to establish whether there is a connection between No and the disappearance of the MI6 personnel. Bond and Quarrel meet Honeychile Rider , who is there to collect valuable shells. Bond and Rider are captured by No's men after Quarrel is burned to death by the doctor's "dragon"—a flamethrowing , armoured swamp buggy designed to keep away trespassers. Bond and Rider are taken to
4773-559: Is that a vicious dragon also lives there. The spoonbills are protected by the American National Audubon Society , two of whose representatives died when their plane crashed on No's airstrip. On his arrival in Jamaica, Bond soon realises that he is being watched. His hotel room is searched, a basket of poisoned fruit is delivered to the room—supposedly a gift from the colonial governor—and a deadly centipede
4902-873: Is the current chief of SIS. Command and control over SIS is done through by four main government entities: the Central Intelligence Machinery, the Ministerial Committee on the Intelligence Services, the Permanent Secretaries' Committee on the Intelligence Services, and the Joint Intelligence Committee. The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) assesses the intelligence gathered by the GCHQ , MI5 , and SIS and presents it to
5031-729: Is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom , tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence on foreign nationals in support of its Five Eyes partners. SIS is one of the British intelligence agencies and the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service ("C") is directly accountable to the Foreign Secretary . Formed in 1909 as the foreign section of
5160-560: Is the sixth novel by the English author Ian Fleming to feature his British Secret Service agent James Bond . Fleming wrote the novel in early 1957 at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape on 31 March 1958. The novel centres on Bond's investigation into the disappearance in Jamaica of two fellow MI6 operatives. He establishes that they had been investigating Doctor No ,
5289-531: Is to collect Britain's foreign intelligence . It provides the British government with vital intelligence regarding foreign events and informs concerning global covert capabilities to uphold national interests, security and protect the country's economic well-being. SIS works with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and therefore falls under the supervision of the Foreign Secretary . SIS officers and agents engage in operations and missions all around
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5418-608: The Deuxième Bureau was recruited to fly missions over Germany. Under the cover story that he was a sales agent for a dummy corporation, the Aeronautical Research and Sales Corporation, Cotton flew over Germany, Italy and the Italian colony of Libya in his Lockheed 12A aircraft, taking numerous high-quality aerial photographs of German and Italian military bases that proved immensely useful for Britain during
5547-639: The Admiralty and the War Office to control secret intelligence operations in the UK and overseas, particularly concentrating on the activities of the Imperial German government. The bureau was split into naval and army sections which, over time, specialised in foreign espionage and internal counter-espionage activities, respectively. This specialisation was because the Admiralty wanted to know
5676-607: The American Museum of Natural History ) and Arthur Stannard Vernay (of the Flamingo Protection Society) on a trip to a flamingo colony on Great Inagua in the south of the Bahamas . The colony was 100 square miles (260 km ) of dense mangrove swamp and salt flats, home to flamingos, egrets and roseate spoonbills; the location inspired Crab Key. Much of the travel overland on Great Inagua
5805-660: The Gestapo , the Nazi secret police, with "the exchange of information about communism" as late as October 1937, well into the Nazi era; the head of the British agency's Berlin station, Frank Foley , was still able to describe his relationship with the Gestapo's so-called communism expert as "cordial". In 1936, in a sign that he lacked confidence in his own agents, Sinclair founded the semi-autonomous Z section under Claude Dansey for economic intelligence about Germany. Working alongside
5934-615: The Secret Service Bureau , the section grew greatly during the First World War officially adopting its current name around 1920. The name "MI6" originated as a convenient label during the Second World War , when SIS was known by many names. It is still commonly used today. The existence of SIS was not officially acknowledged until 1994. That year the Intelligence Services Act 1994 (ISA)
6063-560: The Ultra material collected by the Government Code & Cypher School , MI6 became, for the first time, an important branch of the government. Extensive breaches of Nazi Enigma signals gave Menzies and his team enormous insight into Adolf Hitler 's strategy, and this was kept a closely held secret. In 1940, the British intelligence services entered into a special agreement with their Polish counterparts. This collaboration between
6192-528: The "ultimate potential enemy". The memo noted that Germany had the world's second largest economy (being exceeded only by the economy of the United States), was a world leader in science and technology, and was capable of moblising millions of men for war. However, it was generally believed in the United Kingdom at the time that the arms race before 1914 had caused the Great War, and consequently there
6321-595: The 14th Army take over all intelligence operations in Burma with both SIS and SOE agents to be subordinate to the 14th Army under the grounds the Army was more capable of running intelligence operations in southeast Asia than MI6. Menzies who fiercely defended the prerogatives of MI6 was able to block this proposal despite the way it was universally accepted by officers serving in the China-Burma-India theater that SIS
6450-651: The Americas, and mobilise pro-British opinion in the Americas. BSC also founded Camp X in Canada to train clandestine operators and to establish (in 1942) a telecommunications relay station, code name Hydra, operated by engineer Benjamin deForest Bayly . SIS operations in Asia were hindered by the fact that Europeans tended to stick out in Asia along with an inability to recruit Asian agents. The SOE had more success in both recruiting agents in Asia and in sending agents into
6579-521: The Bond series edited as part of a sensitivity review to remove or reword some racial or ethnic descriptors. The rerelease of the series was for the 70th anniversary of Casino Royale , the first Bond novel. For the first time in the Bond series, Fleming encountered harsh criticism. The most virulent came from Paul Johnson of the New Statesman , who opened his review, "Sex, Snobbery and Sadism", with: "I have just finished what is, without doubt,
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#17327798899666708-498: The British colony of Jamaica . He is instructed to investigate the disappearance of Commander John Strangways, the head of MI6's Station J in Kingston , and his secretary. Bond is briefed that Strangways had been investigating the activities of Doctor Julius No , a reclusive Chinese-German who lives on the fictional island of Crab Key and runs a guano mine. The island has a colony of roseate spoonbills at one end while local rumour
6837-702: The British Embassy in Riga on 9 October 1924 who forwarded it to London. The Zinoviev letter played a key role in the defeat of the minority Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald and the victory of the Conservatives under Stanley Baldwin in the general election of 29 October 1924. It has been established the MI6 leaked the Zinoviev letter to the Daily Mail , but it remains unclear if MI6 was aware that
6966-513: The British ambassador to Germany from 1937 to 1939, was actively hostile towards MI6 running agents out of the British embassy in Berlin as he made it clear his belief that espionage against Germany would hamper the "general settlement" he was seeking with the Reich . The focus on collecting intelligence on German aircraft production led MI6 to be confused about the wider strategic question of what were
7095-530: The Chamberlain government. The Deuxième Bureau had manufactured the story as a way to force Britain to make a stronger commitment to defend France. The "limited liability" rearmament policy pursued by the Chamberlain government had intentionally starved the British Army of funds to rule out the "continental commitment" (i.e. Britain sending a large expeditionary force) from ever being made again, with
7224-492: The Committee is responsible specifically with ensuring the Committee's monitoring and oversight over intelligence data are conducted effectively and responsibly. Permanent and temporary sub-committees and working groups are constituted by the Committee, to carry out its duties responsibly. HM Treasury has directed the security and intelligence agencies to prepare financial statements for each financial year in accordance with
7353-472: The French market, which led to increased sales of Bond works in that country; 480,000 French-language copies of the six Bond novels were sold that year. Since its initial publication the book has been issued in numerous hardback and paperback editions, translated into several languages and has never been out of print. In 2023 Ian Fleming Publications—the company that administers all Fleming's literary works—had
7482-682: The German intelligence service, the Abwehr , had been bribed into working for Czechoslovakia. Thus most of what MI6 knew about German plans during both the Sudetenland crisis and the Danzig crisis came from the Czechoslovak military intelligence, which continued to run Thümmel even after the dissolution of Czecho-Slovakia in March 1939 and a government-in-exile was set up. Sir Nevile Henderson ,
7611-444: The Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000. Due to security concerns, the Government does not publish these financial statements which are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and then shown to the chair of the Public Accounts Committee in accordance with the Intelligence Services Act 1994 . The annual Parliamentary financial statements for 2021–2022 indicated that the combined British intelligence services spending
7740-429: The ISA allows it to carry out operations only against persons outside the British Islands . Some of SIS's actions since the 2000s have attracted significant controversy, such as its alleged complicity in acts of enhanced interrogation techniques and extraordinary rendition . Since 1994, SIS headquarters have been in the SIS Building in London , on the South Bank of the River Thames . The main mission of SIS
7869-404: The Japanese-occupied areas in China and southeast Asia, which caused tensions with MI6 who were jealous of the ability of the upstart SOE to do what they could not. SOE was more open to recruiting from within the Commonwealth, recruiting Chinese-Canadians and Australian-Chinese, to operate behind the Japanese lines under the grounds Asian agents would less likely to be arrested by the Kempeitai ,
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#17327798899667998-411: The MI6 Deputy Chief in World War II wrote: "I would never willing employ an university man. I have less fear of Bolshies and Fascists than I have of some pedantic, but vocal university professor". The debate over the future structure of British Intelligence continued at length after the end of hostilities but Cumming managed to engineer the return of the Service to Foreign Office control. At this time,
8127-432: The Provisional government in Petrograd and signed an armistice with Germany. The main objective for the British was to keep Russia in the war, and MI6's two chosen instruments for doing so were Sidney Reilly , who despite his Irish name was a Russian-Jewish adventurer, and George Alexander Hill , a British pilot and businessman. Officially, Reilly's mandate was to collect intelligence about the new regime in Russia and find
8256-545: The SIS report directly. The Foreign Secretary appoints the head of SIS , to oversee SIS daily management and work. The Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service has a twofold responsibility within SIS. Internally, they oversee the continuous gathering of intelligence from agents, which involves making complex decisions about risk, resource allocation, and technological adaptation. In today's interconnected, data-driven world, maintaining secrecy and conducting undercover operations have become increasingly challenging. Externally,
8385-400: The SOE's training establishment in Beaulieu, Hampshire . In May 1940, MI6 set up British Security Co-ordination (BSC), on the authorisation of Prime Minister Winston Churchill over the objections of Stewart Menzies. This was a covert organisation based in New York City, headed by William Stephenson intended to investigate enemy activities, prevent sabotage against British interests in
8514-653: The Second World War, the name MI6 was used as a flag of convenience, the name by which it is frequently known in popular culture since. In the immediate post-war years under Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming and throughout most of the 1920s, SIS was focused on Communism, in particular, Russian Bolshevism. Examples include a thwarted operation to overthrow the Bolshevik government in 1918 by SIS agents Sidney George Reilly and Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart , as well as more orthodox espionage efforts within early Soviet Russia headed by Captain George Hill. Smith-Cumming died suddenly at his home on 14 June 1923, shortly before he
8643-461: The UK, offering the names of all Soviet agents working inside British intelligence. Philby received the memo on Volkov's offer and alerted the Soviets, so they could arrest him. In 1946, SIS absorbed the "rump" remnant of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), dispersing the latter's personnel and equipment between its operational divisions or "controllerates" and new Directorates for Training and Development and for War Planning. The 1921 arrangement
8772-412: The Z section was the British Industrial Secret Service headed by a Canadian businessman living in London, William Stephenson that recruited British businessmen active in Germany for intelligence about German industrial production. For intelligence on German military plans, MI6 largely depended upon Czechoslovak military intelligence from 1937 onward as Paul Thümmel , aka "Agent A-54", a senior officer in
8901-534: The aims of German foreign policy. On 18 September 1938, a memo entitled "What Shall We Do?" written by Malcolm Woollcombe, the chief of the Political Intelligence, declared that the best way of resolving the Sudetenland crisis was for the Sudetenland to be peacefully annexed to Germany. The report concluded that allowing the Sudetenland to be annexed would allow Britain to finally discover "what really legitimate grievances Germany has and what surgical operations are necessary to recify them". In January 1939, MI6 played
9030-405: The anti-Nazi chief of the Abwehr, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris . This alliance allowed for the exchange of critical intelligence information and further strengthened the cooperation between the British and Polish intelligence services during this pivotal period in history. 1939 saw the most significant failure of the service during the war, known as the Venlo incident for the Dutch town where much of
9159-485: The cabinet ministers, who in turn, enable the government's policies to help achieve national security and defence. The JIC also reports the intelligence analysis, based on SIS gatherings, to the Cabinet Office itself. Committee members are required to bring the reports and findings to their perspective ministers and departments, so as to make appropriate assessments that help in planning, preparing operational activities, planning or making policy decisions. The Chairman of
9288-427: The chief also operates as a secret diplomat, tasked with maintaining vital alliances that support intelligence cooperation. Additionally, they may need to establish discreet communication channels with countries where traditional diplomatic relations are delicate. Successfully navigating these dual roles requires a nuanced understanding of both internal operations and international relations. Since 2020, Sir Richard Moore
9417-652: The colonial authorities. In June 1956 the author Ian Fleming began a collaboration with the producer Henry Morgenthau III on a planned television series, Commander Jamaica , which was to feature the Caribbean-based character James Gunn. When the project foundered, and Fleming could not fashion a new plot for his next Bond novel, he used the idea as the basis for Dr. No . By January 1957 he had published four Bond novels in successive years from 1953— Casino Royale , Live and Let Die , Moonraker and Diamonds Are Forever . A fifth, From Russia, with Love ,
9546-570: The criticism concerning the exclusivity of Bond's objects, such as cigarettes and food, but defended it on the basis that "I had to fit Bond out with some theatrical props". These included his cocktail, ( "The Vesper" ) and Bond's diet. Fleming called these devices "vulgar foibles" which he was saddled with, although maybe, he suggested, "Bond's luxury meals are simply saying 'no' to toad-in-the-hole and tele-bickies." Writing in The Times Literary Supplement , Philip Stead
9675-431: The events of Dr. No in 1956; Griswold is more precise, and considers the story to have taken place that February and March. As with his four previous novels, Fleming originated the concept of the front cover design; he considered Honeychile Rider to have a Venus-like quality when introduced in the book and wanted this emphasised on the cover. When commissioning Pat Marriott to illustrate the cover, he instructed that she
9804-459: The fashion of postwar Britain ... In Bond, he created a Bulldog Drummond for the jet age. William Cook in the New Statesman In Dr. No , for the first time in the Bond novels, there is friction between Bond and M, brought about because Bond was nearly killed by the SMERSH agent Rosa Klebb in From Russia, with Love . M orders Bond to use a new gun and sends him on
9933-466: The fictional crime organisation SPECTRE and his island fortress is nuclear-powered; No is killed not by a surge of guano, but by drowning in reactor coolant. The novel was dramatised for BBC Radio 4 in May 2008. The actor Toby Stephens played Bond, while No was played by David Suchet . MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service ( SIS ), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6 ),
10062-527: The general election of that year by leaking the so-called Zinoviev letter to the Daily Mail , which published it on its front page on 25 October 1924. The letter, which was a forgery, was supposedly from Grigory Zinoviev , the chief of the Comintern, ordering British Communists to take over the Labour Party. The Zinoviv letter, which was written in English, came into possession of the MI6 resident at
10191-530: The government regarding Germany was for MI6 to collect intelligence about German rearmament in order to establish the level of British rearmament that was be pursued in response. British decision-makers were especially concerned about the prospect of German strategic bombing of British cities as contemporary experts vastly exaggerated the power of strategic bombing to kill millions within a few days. Harold Macmillan later recalled: "We thought of air warfare in 1938 rather as people think of nuclear warfare today". As
10320-535: The intelligence back to its consumer departments, mainly the War Office and Admiralty . Recruitment and the training of spies in the interwar period was quite casual. Cumming referred to espionage as a "capital sport", and expected his agents to learn the "tradecraft" of espionage while on their missions instead of before being dispatched on their missions. One MI6 agent Leslie Nicholson recalled about his first assignment in Prague: "nobody gave me any tips on how to be
10449-605: The issue. This is reinforced at the end of the book, when a Royal Navy warship is despatched to the island. In Black and Parker's views, the display of power projection by Britain, with no assistance from the United States, portrayed the British Empire as an enduring force. The concept of friendship and loyalty is the second major theme. The relationship between Bond and Quarrel, the Cayman Islander ,
10578-644: The letter was a forgery at the time. With the emergence of Germany as a threat following the ascendence of the Nazis , in the early 1930s attention was shifted in that direction. In 1934, a defense requirements commitment that consisted of Sir Robert Vansittart of the Foreign Office, Sir Warren Fisher of the Treasury, General Sir Maurice Hankey of the Committee for Imperial Defense, and the three service chiefs produced an influential memo that labelled Germany
10707-556: The majority of military spending being devoted the RAF and the Royal Navy. As such, Britain simply did not possess the military force to save the Netherlands, leading to urgent requests being made to Paris to ask if France would be willing to assist with the defence of the Netherlands. In response, the French replied that Britain would need to do more for France if the British wanted the French to do something for them. On 6 February 1939 in
10836-781: The maritime strength of the Imperial German Navy . This specialisation was formalised before 1914. During the First World War in 1916, the two sections underwent administrative changes so that the foreign section became the section MI1(c) of the Directorate of Military Intelligence . Its first director was Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming , who often dropped the Smith in routine communication. He typically signed correspondence with his initial C in green ink. This usage evolved as
10965-627: The much feared Japanese military police. In 1944, about 90% of the human intelligence in Burma came from the SOE while 70% of the human intelligence in Malaya, Thailand and French Indochina came from the SOE. General William Slim , the GOC of the 14th Army, complained about the low quality of SIS intelligence in late 1943 as he stated that the intelligence he received from MI6 was "far from being complete or accurate". In late 1944-early 1945, Slim attempted to have
11094-409: The nastiest book I have ever read". He went on to say that "by the time I was a third of the way through, I had to suppress a strong impulse to throw the thing away". Although he recognised that Bond represented "a social phenomenon of some importance", he saw this as a negative element, as the phenomenon concerned "three basic ingredients in Dr. No , all unhealthy, all thoroughly English: the sadism of
11223-472: The necessary laws, regulations and funding needed to keep the SIS operating and to conduct its activities. Under these rules, SIS is accountable to the government of the time and the SIS carry out their work in accordance to the government's foreign policy . The Prime Minister is ultimately responsible for intelligence and security, with day-to-day ministerial responsibility with the Foreign Secretary , to whom
11352-560: The novel Live and Let Die , was based on a Jamaican fisherman who often took Fleming shark fishing. James Bond is the culmination of an important but much-maligned tradition in English literature. As a boy, Fleming devoured the Bulldog Drummond tales of Lieutenant Colonel Herman Cyril McNeile (aka "Sapper") and the Richard Hannay stories of John Buchan . His genius was to repackage these antiquated adventures to fit
11481-529: The novel "the usual sado-masochistic free-for-all, plus octopuses". The unnamed critic in The Manchester Guardian referred to Johnson's "sex, snobbery and sadism" complaint. They highlighted the "sinister ... cult of luxury for its own sake", with Bond's enjoyment of branded and bespoke products, but disagreed with part of Johnson's summary that the novel was a sign of moral decay; rather, "we should be grateful to Mr. Fleming for providing
11610-605: The novel as "the most fantastical, gothic and melodramatic; and at times frankly, even knowingly, over the top", while Black considers the fantastic element of Doctor No's underground lair to be a "weak" and "bizarre" part of the story. When the writer Raymond Chandler reviewed the novel, he thought "that the long sensational business which is the heart of the book not only borders on fantasy. It plunges in with both feet. Ian Fleming's impetuous imagination has no rules." Writing in 1963, Fleming acknowledged his plots were "fantastical while often being based in truth. They go wildly beyond
11739-517: The novel's description of how the Queen's Club would be lost during independence struggles. According to the cultural historian Michael Denning, this acknowledgement of the end-of-empire leads to a "sense of doom" that is the result of "a shadow of real history hanging over the stories". Dr. No was serialised in The Daily Express from 19 March to 1 April 1958. In 1960 the novel
11868-527: The novel. I wish to point out that a man in James Bond's position would never consider using a .25 Beretta. It's really a lady's gun—and not a very nice lady at that! Dare I suggest that Bond should be armed with a .38 or a nine millimetre—let's say a German Walther PPK? That's far more appropriate. Boothroyd also gave Fleming advice on the Berns-Martin triple draw shoulder holster and a number of
11997-403: The operation took place. Agents of the German army secret service, the Abwehr , and the counter-espionage section of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), posed as high-ranking officers involved in a plot to depose Hitler . In a series of meetings between SIS agents and the 'conspirators', SS plans to abduct the SIS team were shelved due to the presence of Dutch police. On the night of 8–9 November,
12126-737: The organisation was known in Whitehall by a variety of titles including the Foreign Intelligence Service , the Secret Service , MI1(c) , the Special Intelligence Service and even C's organisation . Around 1920, it began increasingly to be referred to as the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), a title that it has continued to use to the present day and which was enshrined in statute in the Intelligence Services Act 1994. During
12255-406: The plot" of Dr. No through chapters that are longer than in previous Bond novels; Black also likes Dr. No ' s pacing, despite considering it inconsistent in places. Winder believes that the novel's plotting is chaotic, although he still feels the book "can be read over and over again with immense pleasure". Dr. No was very cardboardy and need not have been ... The trouble is that it
12384-458: The probable but not, I think, beyond the possible". Two main themes run through Dr. No : the meaning of power; and the concept of friendship and loyalty. Bond talks about the meaning of power with several villains in the series. His conversation with Doctor No reveals that the latter believes it can only be secured through the privacy required to maintain the sovereignty of his island. No quotes Carl von Clausewitz 's first principle —about having
12513-445: The rest of the war with any more contact with the Wehrmacht generals. During the Second World War the human intelligence work of the service was complemented by several other initiatives: GC&CS was the source of Ultra intelligence, which was very useful. The chief of SIS, Stewart Menzies , insisted on wartime control of codebreaking, and this gave him immense power and influence, which he used judiciously. By distributing
12642-543: The roles of women in the Bond novels, consider that Rider is "not archetypically feminine", but is "constructed according to the formula 'equal but yet subordinate'." Rider is described in the book as having buttocks like a boy, which brought a response from Fleming's friend Noël Coward that "I was also slightly shocked by the lascivious announcement that Honeychile's bottom was like a boy's. I know that we are all becoming more broadminded nowadays, but really old chap what could you have been thinking of?" Black, reviewing all
12771-414: The scenes with Quarrel to be "embarrassingly patronising but nonetheless hypnotic". In From Russia, with Love Fleming experimented with an unusual narrative structure that saw Bond's entry into the story delayed until chapter eleven. For Dr. No he returned to the conventional form with which he felt comfortable—that of the thriller writers of the early 20th century. As a result, the story's villain
12900-522: The service since the end of World War I. On 9 November 1939, MI6 was embarrassed by the Venlo incident . The Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, was unenthusiastic about the prospect of war, and clung to the hope all through the Phoney War that the Wehrmacht generals would overthrow Hitler, after which the war would end. Two MI6 officers, Sigismund Payne Best and Henry Stevens had been dispatched to
13029-454: The title Dr. No . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dr._No&oldid=1238730572 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Dr. No (novel) Dr. No
13158-583: The two nations played a significant role in shaping the course of World War II. In July 2005, the governments of the United Kingdom and Poland jointly produced a comprehensive two-volume study that shed light on their bilateral intelligence cooperation during the war. This study, which unveiled information that had been classified as secret until that point, was known as the Report of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee. The report
13287-578: The two parties included critical information such as advance warnings of the ' Afrikakorps' departure for Libya, insights into the readiness of Vichy French units to either fight against the Allies or switch sides during Operation Torch , and early warnings regarding both Operation Barbarossa and Operation Edelweiss , the German Caucasus campaign . Polish-sourced reporting on German secret weapons began in 1941, and Operation Wildhorn enabled
13416-463: The villains in the series, wrote: Fleming did not use class enemies for his villains, instead relying on physical distortion or ethnic identity ... Furthermore, in Britain foreign villains used foreign servants and employees ... This racism reflected not only a pronounced theme of interwar adventure writing, such as the novels of [John] Buchan , but also widespread literary culture. Dr. No
13545-649: The war, MI6 had its main European office in Rotterdam from where it coordinated espionage in Germany and occupied Belgium. A crucial element in the war effort from the British perspective was the involvement of Russia, which kept millions of German soldiers that would otherwise be deployed on the Western Front, engaged on the Eastern Front. On 7 November 1917 the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin overthrew
13674-521: The war. On 26 and 27 July 1939, in Pyry near Warsaw , British military intelligence representatives including Dilly Knox , Alastair Denniston and Humphrey Sandwith were introduced by their allied Polish counterparts to their Enigma-decryption techniques and equipment, including Zygalski sheets and the cryptologic " Bomba ", and were promised future delivery of a reverse-engineered, Polish-built duplicate Enigma machine. The demonstration represented
13803-522: The weapons used by SMERSH and other villains. In thanks, Fleming gave the MI6 Armourer the name Major Boothroyd in Dr. No and M introduces him to Bond as "the greatest small-arms expert in the world". As he had done in his previous novels, Fleming borrowed names from his friends and associates to use in his book; Ivar Bryce's housekeeper, May Maxwell, became Bond's Scottish "treasure" May. One of Fleming's neighbours in Jamaica, and later his lover,
13932-790: The work for you." The reviewer for Time acknowledged the critical storm around Fleming and Dr. No , but was broadly welcoming of the book, writing that while "not all readers will agree that Dr. No ... is magnificent writing, ... pages of it, at least, qualify for Ezra Pound 's classic comment on Tropic of Cancer : 'At last, an unprintable book that is readable'." In The New York Times , Anthony Boucher —described by Fleming's biographer John Pearson as "throughout an avid anti-Bond and an anti-Fleming man" —was again damning of Fleming's work, saying "it's harder than ever to see why an ardent coterie so admires Ian Fleming's tales". Benson described Boucher's critique as "true to form" and "a tirade" as Boucher concluded his review by saying: "it
14061-643: The world was equal to the cost of maintaining one destroyer in home waters, and that the demands placed upon his service exceeded its budget. The focus on the Luftwaffe along with MI6's relatively small budget led to constant complaints from both the War Office and the Admiralty that MI6 was neglecting both the German Army and the Kriegsmarine . The Asian branch of the SIS was known as the "Cinderella branch" owing to its neglect by London. MI6 assisted
14190-430: The world. The SIS regularly cooperates and works with MI5 and GCHQ regarding domestic and cyber intelligence. SIS has three primary tasks: The impact and success in these situations helps to prevent hostile influence, keep the UK's defences on alert to reduce serious and organised crime, and to detect violations of international law. SIS is governed under the laws of the United Kingdom . The government sets
14319-460: Was Blanche Blackwell: Fleming named the guano-collecting ship in Dr. No as Blanche . His friend Patricia Wilder found that her nickname of Honey Chile was used for the novel's main female character, and John Fox-Strangways—a friend from the gentlemen's club White's —saw part of his surname being used for the name of the MI6 station chief in Jamaica. Fleming also used the physical descriptions of people he knew; Quarrel, who previously appeared in
14448-436: Was Fleming's idealised concept of a black person, and the character was based on his genuine liking for Jamaicans, whom he saw as "full of goodwill and cheerfulness and humour". The relationship between Bond and Quarrel was based on a presumption of Bond's superiority. Fleming described the relationship as "that of a Scots laird with his head stalker; authority was unspoken and there was no room for servility". Winder considers
14577-474: Was a belief that British rearmament would increase international tensions and would make a war more likely than less likely. On the converse, there was the possibility if Germany rearmed while Britain did not, it would leave the Reich in a strong position to launch a war. It was decided that British rearmament would be linked to the extent of German rearmament with British rearmament to be reactive rather than preemptive. The primary request from decision-makers in
14706-528: Was adapted as a daily comic strip in the paper and was syndicated worldwide. The strip, which ran from May to October, was written by Peter O'Donnell and illustrated by John McLusky . It was reprinted in 2005 by Titan Books as part of the Dr. No anthology that also includes Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia, with Love . In 1962 the American men's magazine Stag serialised the story, renaming it as "Nude Girl of Nightmare Key". The film Dr. No
14835-431: Was authored by leading historians and experts who were granted unprecedented access to the archives of British intelligence. One of the most remarkable findings was that 48 percent of all reports received by British secret services from continental Europe during the years 1939–45 had originated from Polish sources. This significant contribution from the Polish intelligence was made possible by the fact that occupied Poland had
14964-526: Was being edited and prepared for publication. That month Fleming travelled to his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica to write Dr. No . He followed his usual practice, which he later outlined in Books and Bookmen magazine: "I write for about three hours in the morning ... and I do another hour's work between six and seven in the evening. I never correct anything and I never go back to see what I have written ... By following my formula, you write 2,000 words
15093-540: Was by a swamp vehicle, a Land Rover fitted with over-large tyres that became the model for the "dragon" used in the story. Fleming's inspiration for the Doctor No character was Sax Rohmer 's villain Dr Fu Manchu , who featured in books Fleming had read and enjoyed in earlier years. Aspects of the plot were influenced by Rohmer's work, and Winder observes that the use of the centipede was "a straight steal" from
15222-587: Was due to retire, and was replaced as C by Admiral Sir Hugh "Quex" Sinclair . Sinclair created the following sections: * Section D to conduct political covert actions and paramilitary operations in time of war. Section D would organise the Home Defence Scheme resistance organisation in the UK and come to be the foundation of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. In 1924, MI6 intervened in
15351-472: Was influenced by Sax Rohmer 's Fu Manchu stories. Dr. No was the first of Fleming's novels to face widespread negative criticism in Britain; Paul Johnson of the New Statesman dismissed the book as one of "Sex, Snobbery and Sadism". When released on the American market it was received more favourably. Dr. No was serialised in the Daily Express , first in an abridged story form and later as
15480-828: Was introduced to Parliament, to place the organisation on a statutory footing for the first time. It provides the legal basis for its operations. Today, SIS is subject to public oversight by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament . The stated priority roles of SIS are counter-terrorism , counter-proliferation , providing intelligence in support of cyber security , and supporting stability overseas to disrupt terrorism and other criminal activities. Unlike its main sister agencies, Security Service (MI5) and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), SIS works exclusively in foreign intelligence gathering;
15609-592: Was issued by Pan Books in February 1960; over 115,000 copies were sold that year. The first American edition was published in June 1958 by Macmillan under the name Doctor No . The largest boost in sales of the novel came in 1962 with the release of the film adaptation . In the seven months after the picture's release, 1.5 million copies of the book were sold. In 1964 the novel was serialised in France-Soir for
15738-528: Was more generous to Dr. No . Despite thinking that Fleming was offering "too opulent a feast" with the book, Stead argued that Fleming managed to pull this off, where "a less accomplished writer ... would never have got away with this story." Raymond Chandler reviewed the novel for The Sunday Times and praised as "masterly" Fleming's depiction of colonial Kingston in the first chapter. Chandler admired Fleming's writing, which had "an acute sense of pace. ... You don't have to work at Ian Fleming. He does
15867-482: Was released in 1962, produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman , and directed by Terence Young . It was the first Bond film in the Eon Productions series; Sean Connery portrayed Bond, with Joseph Wiseman as Doctor No and Ursula Andress as Honeychile Rider, renamed Honey Ryder. Although the story follows the same general storyline, there are some changes: the film shows No to be an operative of
15996-546: Was shown on a Venus elegans shell. Prior to the release of Dr. No —and unconnected with the book itself— Bernard Bergonzi , in the March 1958 issue of Twentieth Century , attacked Fleming's work as containing "a strongly marked streak of voyeurism and sado-masochism" and that the books showed "the total lack of any ethical frame of reference". The article also compared Fleming unfavourably to John Buchan and Raymond Chandler in both moral and literary measures. The writer Simon Raven , while appreciating Bergonzi had produced
16125-570: Was streamlined with the geographical, operational units redesignated "Production Sections", sorted regionally under Controllers, all under a Director of Production. The Circulating Sections were renamed "Requirements Sections" and placed under a Directorate of Requirements. Following the Second World War, tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors attempted to reach Palestine as part of the Aliyah Bet refugee movement. As part of British government efforts to stem this migration, Operation Embarrass saw
16254-572: Was theorized to be active in Ohio between 1981 and 1990 "Dr. No", The Hogan Family season 2, episode 6 (1986) "Dr. No" (song) , a song by Systems in Blue Dr. No? , a 1991 documentary by Jacob Young about William Luther Pierce Dr. No: A Novel , a 2022 book by Percival Everett Politicians with the nickname [ edit ] Tom Coburn , a U.S. Senator from Oklahoma and physician, known for blocking legislation John Kitzhaber ,
16383-481: Was unsuitable to operating in that part of the world. MI6 was able to keep operating in Asia by making the argument that the SOE was only a temporary organisation that was to be disbanded after the war ended while MI6 was the permanent intelligence service that would continue after the war, and that to exclude MI6 from Asia would weaken British intelligence in the post-war world. In early 1944, MI6 re-established Section IX, its prewar anti-Soviet section, and Philby took
16512-578: Was very positive about Dr. No and thought that it was "the most artfully bold, dizzyingly poised thriller of the decade. You'd much better read it than read about it." The writer Simon Winder believes that because Fleming was writing about Jamaica, the result was "perhaps the most attractive of all the Bond books—the most relaxed, the most fiendish, the most confident". According to the literary analyst LeRoy L. Panek, in his examination of 20th century British spy novels, Fleming knew his outdated view of Jamaica would soon be overtaken by events—as evidenced by
16641-541: Was £3.44 billion, with some $ 1.09 billion being further allocated to staff pay and agents and a further £636 million allocated to capital spending. The following legislation regulates the SIS: Oversight is undertaken by Parliament through the following organisations: The service derived from the Secret Service Bureau, which was founded on 1 October 1909. The Bureau was a joint initiative of
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