James Bond book 1 · 1953
Casino Royale
James Bond is sent to the French casino town of Royale-les-Eaux to bankrupt Le Chiffre, a Soviet agent who has lost his masters’ money, at the baccarat table. He is joined by a beautiful agent, Vesper Lynd.
Spoiler-free summary written for The Recurring Cast.
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Book facts
- Author
- Ian Fleming
- Series
- James Bond, book 1 of 14
- Published
- 1953
- Setting
- Set in the fictional Royale-les-Eaux, France
- Characters charted
- 6
- Chart confidence
- High
Casino Royale on screen
- Casino Royale (1954, tv film, CBS). The first screen Bond: a live hour-long television play starring Barry Nelson as an American “Jimmy Bond”.
- Casino Royale (1967, film, Cinema). A sprawling spy comedy, made outside the main series, in which several agents are given the name James Bond.
- Casino Royale (2006, film, Cinema). Daniel Craig’s first Bond film returns to the first novel, as a newly promoted 007 faces a banker to terrorists across a card table.
Who is in Casino Royale
6 recurring or key characters from Ian Fleming’s chart. Introduces James Bond, M, Miss Moneypenny, Felix Leiter and 2 more.
Lead 1
- James BondFirst appearanceAgent 007 of the British Secret Service
Major 3
- Felix LeiterFirst appearanceCIA agent and Bond’s friend
- René MathisFirst appearanceFrench intelligence officer
- Vesper LyndFirst appearanceAgent assigned to Bond at the casino
Minor and cameo 2
- MFirst appearanceHead of the Secret Service
- Miss MoneypennyFirst appearanceM’s secretary
Also featuring these characters
Other Ian Fleming books that share the most characters with Casino Royale.
- Diamonds Are Forever1956 · James Bond · 4 shared charactersBuy on Amazon
- From Russia, with Love1957 · James Bond · 4 shared charactersBuy on Amazon
- Goldfinger1959 · James Bond · 4 shared charactersBuy on Amazon
- For Your Eyes Only1960 · James Bond · 4 shared charactersBuy on Amazon