Like the Beatles at the same time, the popularity of the James Bond films of the Sixties simply steamrollered criticism. The quality of the individual flicks ranged from near-schlock to iconic, but the Bond style always set them apart. This coffee-table book digs deep into the history of the series, from Ian Fleming's books down to the most recent Pierce Brosnan vehicle. And the authors gathered comments from practically everybody, from the stars to the producers right down to the guy who wrote the famous James Bond guitar riff. An enjoyable look into the past, through the barrel of the Walther PPK.

There have been a lot of books written about the James Bond films and phenomenon; I should know because I've read them all! That's why I feel uniquely qualified and very confident in saying that this latest book (written by the two gentlemen who produced the special edition James Bond DVDs) is without a doubt THE best book yet written about the James Bond films! If you're baffled as to which book to add to you movie library, look no further because here you will find information and photos that you will not find anywhere else.

What makes this book so good? Well, first off, it's HUGE in size! A great coffee table book to be sure. The graphic layout is extremely well done and all the films are given equal time (not the case with some of the other books which tend to fixate on the Connery era). Also, for the first time in any official publication, we have coverage of the two "unofficial" James Bond films: NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN and CASINO ROYALE. Up until now these two "rogue" films have been missing from all official publications for legal reasons. JAMES BOND THE LEGACY is the first book to be published after MGM took ownership of these films, so now we are able to learn the fascinating stories of how they came to be made and, most interestingly, how they impacted and influenced the official series. Great stuff!

But what I like most about JAMES BOND THE LEGACY is how the authors look at each film within the historical context of when it was made. They focus not only on what was going on with the Bond producers at the time, but also what was going on in the world; what socio-political and even cinematic trends the Bond films were keying into. This really brings a new understanding to each film and helps explain why James Bond has endured while other "pop culture spies" (Matt Helm, Derek Flint, xXx :)) failed to connect beyond their time and have long since disappeared. Most people think James Bond films are "all the same", but you will discover here that they are not. In this book I learned how throughout its amazing 20-year history the Bond filmmakers made subtle--and sometimes very bold--changes in the tone of the series and to the character of James Bond himself. This is much more than a simple look at the production and plot of each film, this is a major work on one of the most famous fictional characters of the 20th century. Oh, and the book also gives a detailed look at the new Bond movie, DIE ANOTHER DAY, with some pictures that lead me to believe this could be the best Bond movie of them all! This alone makes it stand above the rest as definitive.

JAMES BOND THE LEGACY is a must buy for all James Bond fans and anyone interested in 20th century popular culture. Again, if you buy just one book about James Bond, make it this one.

There have been countless amount of book on the films, book, culture, politics, comics, toys and anything and everything about James Bond. But, let me tell you that this is the best 007 book ever! You will notice that when you first see it because of it's huge size! It is the largest 007 book I own. Written by two authors who researched their facts and are excellent on the subject of James Bond.

What makes this book so unique? Many, practically all 007 books explain about the movies and books alone. This book does that, but includes how what was going on in the world and popular culture influenced many of the decisions in the films and books. All of the films, including Die Another Day, Never Say Never Again and Casino Royale are reviewed in equal amounts. These two official films have always been a little more difficult to read about, but now because MGM has recently added them under their ownership, they are explained in great detail. The best part is how the author's include not only the focus of the film, but what was going on in the world at the time. A great example is the dangerous choice to expose African Americans as the villains in Live and Let Die. This is a great way to see what was the pop culture during each film. Learn all about the Bond Family, and how they made many changes to the series such as increasing the authority of women, how Bond acted, amount of humor in the films and the way they were presented to the public. A great way to look at all of the thousands of people that have contributed to the series, enhanced with hundres of rare photographs and pictures. The best book to look back at the history of James Bond over the 40 years it has been around. The end of the book features great text information on the films. And, finally there is a quote from people that have worked on or in a Bond film.

The definititve Bond book. The Best. That covers it all.

It's basically a collection of dumbed-down review articles on modern fixed income. There's not as much in here on option pricing as I would have wished, and if you consider yourself a reasonable technical person who's seen any fixed income trading before, it's not going to be that helpful to you.

It's a nice SUMMARY of the literature available for those who don't have the time to read it all first-hand. Since my primary interest is more towards equity exotics, the book was more than satisfactory for me. I'd say the target audience is non-fixed income exotics traders, quants without much background in fixed income, and academics.

The best article in the book is probably the one written by Das. He's one of my favorite authors and his chapter in this book is no exception.

My main complaint is that many portions of the book INSIST on using econometric models and pricing kernels rather than the DiffEq framework. For that reason, I like Paul Wilmott's presentaion of the math a little better. I find myself constantly referring back to "Derivatives" and translating what the guys in this book are trying to say.

As with most books in the field, it is also very poor at describing the implementation of the models presented.

This book provides a decent overview of inexpensive stocks and bonds from around the world. About 60%-70% of the items listed are from the United States. A large number of photos are provided and the type is very large. The authors clearly focused on the low end of the hobby. That's not bad, just not very helpful for mid level or high-end collectors. The quality of the photos is mediocre at best. They are black and white except for the covers and an eight-page insert. Even in this section, common material dominates, with only 9 of the 61 color photos shown being valued at more than ten dollars. Of those, only two are valued more than one hundred dollars. Many of the photos are fuzzy, taken at angles, or trimmed, giving the appearance that they've been lifted from online auctions. The values given seemed way off in my opinion. The authors note that the values were generally derived by reviewing online auctions and not by reviewing dealer price lists. I have to wonder if this approach makes sense since it doesn't consider shipping charges and the discount the buyers apply for the additional risk of buying an item in an online auction. Comparing my collection with the listed items left me with a feeling of incompleteness. Less than 10% of my collection was listed. In general, the book may provide a good overview of material available to the novice collector but advanced collectors should avoid it.