Former Royal Marine and Commando Mark Simmons‘s IAN FLEMING’S WAR: THE INSPIRATION FOR 007, examines the work of Ian Fleming in Naval Intelligence and a myriad of characters and events, many stranger than fiction, that influenced his writing.
UK & Commonwealth rights were sold to The History Press for publication in August 2020 with a foreword by Anthony Horowitz.
Mark comes from a family with a long tradition of service in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. He served in 3 Commando Brigade, and with the Commando Logistics Regiment. With the Regiment he took part in the Belize emergency of 1977, and served on detached duties with 42 Commando, the Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre, and 36 MAU of the United States Marines.
He is the author of several books including Agent Cicero: Hitler’s Most Successful Spy (2014, The History Press) and most recently Ian Fleming and Operation Golden Eye: Keeping Spain out of World War II (2018, Casemate).

Jeremy Black is Professor of History at the University of Exeter and a prolific lecturer and writer, with over 100 books to his name and the most sustained presentation of British history in recent decades. His interests include military history, British politics, newspaper and cartographic history, and international relations.
It is always a pleasure when an Authors’ Club member has a new book out, and this month we are delighted to welcome Caroline Boggis-Rolfe to discuss The Baltic Story (Amberley Publishing).
Author of STATION X, KILLER ELITE and NO MAN DIES TWICE Michael Smith’s ANATOMY OF A SPY, about why people are prepared to put their lives at risk in order to collect intelligence, how the intelligence services ensure that the agents they recruit do what they want and will not betray them, using interviews with current and former British, American, Russian, European and Pakistani spies, to
Join us to celebrate the publication of The Baltic Story with writer and lecturer Caroline Boggis-Rolfe!
The Baltic Story recounts the shared history of the countries around the Baltic, from the events of a thousand years ago to today. It shows the ties of blood and commerce that have bound the different lands which now lie in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Western Russia and eastern Germany. The narrative encompasses the foundation of some of Europe’s greatest cities, including St Petersburg, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Gdansk.