Published in 1957, From Russia, with Love is Ian Fleming’s fifth James Bond novel. Soviet intelligence devises an elaborate operation intended to embarrass the British Secret Service and destroy Bond’s reputation. The plan centres on Tatiana Romanova, a cipher clerk in Istanbul who claims she wishes to defect to the West and offers access to a valuable Soviet decoding machine.

Bond is sent to Istanbul, where he works with station chief Darko Kerim and becomes involved in the apparent defection. He and Tatiana later travel west aboard the Orient Express, unaware that the operation has been designed to trap them. The novel combines espionage, psychological manipulation, surveillance and assassination, placing particular emphasis on the machinery of Soviet intelligence and the risks of deception. Its Cold War setting shapes the conflict throughout, while Bond’s mission becomes increasingly personal as he attempts to determine whom he can trust.