James Bond has probably flown to more places than any other U.K. icon, with the possible exception of British Airways.
From the fictional spy’s first onscreen appearance in 1962’s Dr. No and through all 25-and-counting installments in the hugely successful movie series inspired by novelist Ian Fleming’s suave creation, Agent 007’s cinematic adventures have stood out not only for their thrilling action sequences, seductive hanky-panky, and high-tech skulduggery. The films have also been glamorous travelogues, showing off dramatic, far-flung scenery every bit as breathtaking as the car chases, last-second escapes, and visions of Daniel Craig in tiny swim trunks.
James Bond Destinations, a new release from luxury publisher Assouline, gathers an atlas’s worth of filming locations used in the series over the last 60 years or so, featuring movie stills, promotional images, and behind-the-scenes snaps that let readers track the jet-setting agent from mountaintop monasteries in Greece to marble palaces in India, ancient temples in Egypt, waterfalls in Jamaica, and many other exciting destinations across the globe.
The text by journalist, detective novelist, and die-hard Bond fan Daniel Pembrey reveals insider info and insights on memorable scenes such as proto-Bond girl Ursula Andress’s unforgettable emergence from the Caribbean, Roger Moore’s hand-to-hand combat on top of a Sugarloaf cable car in Rio de Janeiro, and Craig’s yacht ride through Venice’s Grand Canal, which was partially closed for the first time in 300 years to capture the sequence.
Much like Frommer’s, whose first book came out 5 years before Bond hit the big screen, the early 007 movies reflected the newfound availability of international travel, encouraging audiences to dream big (though we’ve always tried to stick to more modest budgets).
In a statement from Assouline, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, whose father, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, was the first producer of the franchise, says the aspirational aspect of the movies’ sense of place was always part of the equation. She says the producers “wanted to take people out of their lives and transport them on an adventure to something magical.”
Scroll on to see a selection of photos from the book, along with intel on where each image was captured.
Pictured above: Sean Connery behind the scenes of Dr. No (1962) in Jamaica