(Black and White) Birds of the West Indies: A Guide to the species of birds that inhabit the Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles and Bahama Islands

So, like many, I bought this book due to its links to the Ian Fleming creation. As it's well known this is where he "borrowed' the name from. It is a well produced book with a nice reprint of the original text and illustrations.I dropped a star for two reasons, first is the long preface which makes constant references to Ian Fleming, ITV's Miss Marple and the Bond film world. Despite me purchasing it for this connection, I wanted a copy as it would have been to someone in the 50s and not with the connection spelt out. I feel it is slightly insulting to James Bond that his book has been usurped and can't be enjoyed without this reference being plastered on it. Obviously the publishers wanted to cash in on the connection.Secondly, whilst a quality book it really isn't useable as a field guide. The illustrations are black and white which is little help when in the field trying to identify a sighting. Also some of the birds are long since extinct or not found in the West Indies anymore. A quality book and a nice gift / trivia piece for Bond and Bird collectors.

Disappointingly this book did not live up to expectations. It was described as being printed in May 2015 which whilst true it was in fact a re-print of a 1960's book which was in black and white not exactly what you want when going birding in the Caribbean. I returned the book to Amazon who gave an immediate refund 5 stars to Amazon.

I expected more car chases, jumping out of aeroplanes, and gadgets. Also no semi-naked birds in bikinis. A disappointment, and not a patch on the other James Bond novels.