First edition thus, first impression, issued to commemorate the half century of the completion of Casino Royale in 1952. This was the first James Bond hardback edition published by Penguin Books, who held the publishing rights to the series for a decade. octavo. Original black boards, lettering to spines in silver, with dust jacket.

SMERSH, the Russian intelligence unit whose acronym stands for Death to Spies, is hell-bent on destroying Special Agent James Bond. His death would deal a catastrophic hammer blow to the heart of the British Secret Service.

The lure? A beautiful woman who needs 007s help. Tatiana Romanova is a Russian spy who promises to hand over the prized Spektor decoding machine if Bond aids her defection. Bond suspects a trap but cant resist the opportunity to give the British the upper hand in a chilling new front of the Cold War.

So begins a deadly game of bluff and double bluff, with Bond a marked man as he enters the murky world of Balkan espionage.

Condition: The jacket is fairly worn, torn on edges and scuffed. Minor foxing with strong binding.