It was from a different time, a somehow more refined time that bred James Bond. It was a time before fancy gadgets, suicide bombers, and the Internet. It was a time of heroes, when the clack of the train as it runs along the rails promised a certain romance, and when the trace of a hidden door in a wall panel brought danger. A double-edged throwing knife, bullets smuggled through airport security, vodka martinis.

Such is the world in the James Bond thriller From Russia with Love, by Ian Fleming, thought by some to be the best of the Bond novels (and is said to have been adapted well onto the screen version, with Sean Connery).

In the book, James travels to Istanbul to retrieve a cypher machine, but gets entangled and distracted by the captivating Tatiana Romanova. Along the way Bond meets a few friends, but many enemies, including Russia’s SMERSH organization, and the story comes to a climax during a perilous trip on the Orient Express. There is a surprise ending, and we can’t help but wonder if Bond makes it out alive.