The Background of Bond Trivia Quiz

Answer: The World Is Not Enough

In the 1963 novel "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", James Bond visits the College of Arms in London, on the pretext of researching his family history. During his interview with the genealogist Sable Basilisk, Bond is shown the coat of arms of his ancestor, Sir Thomas Bond, which is described as "Argent, on a chevron sable three bezants", with the motto "Orbis Non Sufficit", which translates as "The World Is Not Enough"; this was displayed on the cover of the novel's first edition, and subsequently in the 1969 film.

This is the actual coat of arms and motto of the real Sir Thomas Bond, an English landowner who served as the comptroller of the household of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I. The motto is believed to originate from the "Pharsalia", an epic Roman war poem by Lucan, as an uncomplimentary reference to Julius Caesar, with its English translation used as the title of the 1999 film starring Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.

Answer: Chamonix

"You Only Live Twice" was the first novel to be written after the release of the film version of "Dr No", which starred Sean Connery in the role of James Bond. Although initially against Connery's casting, Ian Fleming warmed to the actor's portrayal, and altered aspects of the character in the books to fit the screen persona.

This included giving Bond a Scottish ancestry - Bond's father is named as Andrew Bond of Glen Coe in the Scottish Highlands, who is employed as a travelling representative of Vickers, a British engineering firm. Bond's mother is Monique Delacroix, from the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland.

Much of Bond's early life is spent abroad due to his father's work, allowing him to become fluent in both French and German. When Bond was 11, his parents were killed in an accident while climbing in the Aiguilles Rouges, a massif close to Mont Blanc and near the resort of Chamonix.

This is the sum total of information revealed by Fleming about Bond's family, which comes from the character's obituary in "The Times" following his apparent death at the end of the book.

Answer: Fettes College

Following the death of his parents, James Bond goes to live with his aunt in the village of Pett Bottom, near Canterbury. At the age of 12, he is sent to Eton College for his secondary education, but only stays at the school for two "halves" (at Eton, the name for a school term is a "half", with the school year divided into three "halves"), owing to some unnamed "trouble" with one of the school's maids.

As a result, he is instead sent to Fettes College in Edinburgh, the same school as his father attended. Fettes was originally founded as a result of a bequest from Sir William Fettes, who left £166,000 for the education of poor children in the city upon his death in 1836.

As a result of the bequest being invested and increasing the capital available, Fettes College was founded in 1870 on a 350 acre plot of land not far from the Royal Mile.

In its history, there has been both an Andrew Bond that attended Fettes, while the "Who's Who" entry of an actual Commander James Bond, a member of the Special Boat Service, was framed and hung on the wall in one of the school's corridors.

Answer: Hoagy Carmichael

James Bond's physical appearance is often described in the novels, most notably in "From Russia, with Love" - 6 feet in height and 168lb, slim, a 3 inch vertical scar on his right cheek, blue-grey eyes and short dark hair. Although as a general description, Bond is often said to have "dark, rather cruel good looks", two other characters specifically state his resemblance to the singer Hoagy Carmichael.

In "Casino Royale", Vesper Lynd says that "Bond reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless", while Gala Brand in "Moonraker" says that Bond is "certainly good-looking ... Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way. That black hair falling down over the right eyebrow.

Much the same bones. But there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, and the eyes were cold." However, in more recent times, some writers have suggested that Ian Fleming was in fact putting some of his own physical attributes into his description of Bond.

Answer: False

Although Ian Fleming does not provide Bond's date of birth, he is in his mid-to-late thirties by the time of the novel series. In "Moonraker", he states that he is eight years before the mandatory retirement age of 45, which would make him 37 at the time the book is set, which it states in a footnote is November 1954.

This would put Bond's birth in 1917. However, other works have given Bond a date of birth of either November 1920 or November 1921. In 1941, Bond is commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, which would be more in keeping with what else is known about his life after Fettes - he spent some time at the University of Geneva and was taught to ski at Kitzbühel in Austria.

By the time his education is complete, the war has broken out and Bond volunteers to join the armed forces for the duration.

Although Fleming wrote nothing about Bond's war service, after the war Bond applies for a position in the Civil Service directly to Admiral Sir Miles Messervy, who is the head of the Secret Intelligence Service (and is referred to as 'M'), indicating that they have had a prior relationship during the war, much as Fleming did when he served as assistant during the war to the man believed to be the inspiration for 'M', Rear Admiral John Godfrey.

Answer: Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George

The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry originally founded in 1818 by the Prince Regent, which is awarded for "extraordinary non-military service in a foreign country" or "for services to foreign and commonwealth affairs".

The order has a number of different levels of award, ranging from Knight or Dame Grand Cross to Companion, each of which allows the holder to use post-nominal letters. In "From Russia, with Love", Bond's SMERSH file states that he was made a Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG) in 1953, although no information is given as to the service he provided to be given the honour.

The award is subsequently mentioned in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", as Companions are permitted to include a circlet (a ring containing the order's motto) on their coat of arms.

In "The Man With the Golden Gun", Bond is offered the opportunity to have his CMG upgraded to the rank of Knight Commander (KCMG), allowing him to be called "Sir James Bond", but he rejects the offer, not wanting to become a "public" figure.

Answer: Sir Hugo Drax

While James Bond is a car enthusiast in general - in "Moonraker", Fleming describes him as having "once dabbled on the fringe of the racing world" - he is a particular aficionado of Bentley. In the first three books of the series, "Casino Royale", "Live and Let Die" and "Moonraker", Bond drives a supercharged 1930 Bentley 4½ Litre.

However, the car is destroyed while Bond is chasing the primary antagonist, Sir Hugo Drax, in "Moonraker". However, earlier in the same book, 'M' has asked Bond to investigate Drax, a member of the same club as 'M', because it is believed that Drax is cheating at cards. Bond plays Drax in a game of bridge, confirming the suspicions of his superior and, at the same time, "out-cheating" the cheat and winning £15,000.

At the end of the novel, Bond uses this money to buy a new 1953 Bentley Mark VI as a replacement for his 4½ Litre. In "Thunderball", he subsequently buys a wrecked Bentley R-Type Continental that he has restored. However, it is in the novel series that Bond's famous association with Aston Martin begins as, in "Goldfinger", as part of his cover, he takes an Aston Martin DB Mark III from the SIS pool of vehicles.

Answer: Chelsea

James Bond's flat is located off the King's Road in Chelsea, with authors of subsequently published novels identifying the location as Wellington Square. Bond employs an elderly Scottish housekeeper called May to maintain the flat. His lifestyle, when not on assignment, is described in the first chapter of "Moonraker" - "...elastic office hours from around ten to six; lunch, generally in the canteen; evenings spent playing cards in the company of a few close friends, or at Crockford's; or making love, with rather cold passion, to one of three similarly disposed married women; weekends playing golf for high stakes at one of the clubs near London." Because Bond is primarily a loner, it is almost unheard of that he has any permanent companion in his flat in London, with the only instance of it occurring at the end of "Diamonds Are Forever", when Tiffany Case moves in with him.

By the start of the following book, "From Russia, with Love", she has left.

Answer: Beretta

For the first five books of the series, James Bond's personal choice of sidearm was a Beretta 418, which fired .25 ACP ammunition. However, just before the publication of "From Russia, with Love", Ian Fleming received a letter from firearms expert Geoffrey Boothroyd, who stated that the Beretta was a poor choice, as it had no stopping power and was something of a "lady's gun". Fleming took this advice and, towards the end of "From Russia, with Love", had Bond wounded as a result of his being unable to draw his gun. Fleming asked Boothroyd's advice on what weapon Bond should use instead, with the only proviso that it should be an automatic.

In the following book, "Dr No", Bond has recovered from his injuries, but is ordered by 'M' to stop using the Beretta, having it replaced with the weapon that Boothroyd ended up recommending, the 7.65mm Walther PPK, by the SIS armourer, who Fleming named in honour of Boothroyd.

Answer: Ornithology

James Bond was an American ornithologist, and was considered an expert on Caribbean birds, having written what is considered to be one of the definitive books on the subject, "Birds of the West Indies", which was first published in 1936. Ian Fleming was himself a keen birdwatcher, and owned a copy of Bond's book.

When he began to plan out his first spy novel, he wanted to have his protagonist as "an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened", to which he wanted to ensure that the character also had "the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name" that he could find. For this, he chose the author of the book on Caribbean birds, and "Casino Royale" was published with James Bond as the lead character. James Bond himself never knew about the use of his name by Fleming until the novels started becoming popular in the United States.

He and Fleming eventually met in 1964, at which point Fleming apologised for appropriating the ornithologist's name, to which he replied how amusing he thought the idea. Fleming is reputed to have offered the use of his own name, in the event that "he will discover some particularly horrible species of bird which he would like to christen in an insulting fashion."