together with a skill one would expect from Mr. Fleming", which leads to something that is "very entertaining reading". Reviewing for The Observer, Anthony Sampson thought the book had "sparkle", adding that "it is often difficult to remember that we are not listening to his old hero Mr. James Bond." Sampson noted that the book included "several yarns which are worthy of the best spy-stories". The reviewer for The Economist enjoyed the book, but considered that while many of the stories "make good reading ... they are not new". For The New York Times, John Barkham thought that Fleming's foray into non-fiction produced "mixed results". Although he found the subject interesting, the basis in interview resulted in a "choppy book" that was "no more than an interim report". Attempted film adaptation Shortly after publication, The Rank Group offered £13,500 (£ in pounds) for the film rights to the book, which Fleming accepted, telling them he would write a full story outline for an extra £1,000. Several contemporary newspaper reports referred to the project as "The Diamond Spy". British producer George Willoughby subsequently obtained the rights for the book from Rank and tried to make a film with the actor Richard Todd, eventually commissioning a screenplay from Australian writer Jon Cleary, who finished a script in October 1964 that remained faithful in spirit to Fleming's book while also featuring elements familiar from the James Bond films. Kingsley Amis was also hired as a story consultant; in a letter to author Theo Richmond on 20 December 1965 Amis wrote he was having 'a horrible time' of writing an outline for Willoughby. W.H. "Bill" Canaway, co-author of the screenplay for The Ipcress File, was also hired to work on the script. At one point, film director John Boorman was involved. Despite interest from Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors and Anglo Embassy Productions in early 1966, the project was shelved later that year. Fleming's 1956 Bond novel, Diamonds Are Forever, also dealt with diamond smuggling, albeit from Sierra Leone rather than South Africa; however, the 1971 film adaptation of the novel featured a diamond-smuggling operation shipping out of South Africa. References Bibliography External links 1957 non-fiction books Books by Ian Fleming Diamond industry Jonathan Cape books