Moonraker

London: Jonathan Cape, 1955. First edition. Near Fine/Very Good. First printing, later state with "shoot" corrected on page 10. A Near Fine copy in Very Good dust jacket. Some foxing to edges of closed text block, endpapers, and first and last page. Foxing to dust jacket, with some fading to spine.

The third novel in the Bond series, Moonraker features James Bond working to prevent a ballistic missile hidden deep in the heart of London from destroying the city. This missile, christened Moonraker, is the project of Hugo Drax, a wealthy British businessman, who wants to protect his homeland from the simmering tensions of the Cold War Era. Unknown to Bond, Hugo Drax is actually a vengeful former Nazi named Graf Hugo von der Drache, now in cahoots with the Soviet Union. The Moonraker missile, supposedly keeping London safe from Soviet aggression, is actually Drax's vengeance against England for defeating Nazi Germany during World War II. Far from protecting London and the British people, Drax and Moonraker have adopted protectionism and patriotism as a sinister disguise.

Bond joins forces with Gala Brand, a British undercover agent whose assignment is working as Drax's personal assistant. Drax and his ilk discover Bond and Brand's covert investigations, and the two British agents soon find themselves imprisoned beneath the Moonraker rocket awaiting a fiery death. But Bond and Brand have a surprise in store for Drax and his Moonraker project. This third Bond novel brings the global terror of the Cold War home to England, where Fleming grapples with the continuing effects of World War II and the nuclear arms race. Near Fine in Very Good dust jacket.