Gear: James Bond's Travel Guide

Product name: Thrilling Cities

Made by: Ian Fleming

When the James Bond books were first introduced, they were known for their racy tone and spy-themed awesomeness. But perhaps the the most striking things about them were the exotic locations that Bond got to see. At the dawn of jet travel most people had never seen Hong Kong, Tokyo or Monte Carlo, and one of Ian Fleming's great talents was infusing a location with a dramatic color and liveliness.

Thrilling Cities is a collection of stories written by Fleming throughout the 50's for the London Sunday Times bound together as a sort of hedonistic round-the-world jaunt. As a travel guide, it is a bit outdated, but the fascinating descriptions of the kinds of places James Bond would be sent to despatch super-villains and romance exotic ladies are not to be missed. While in Las Vegas he talks about how to gamble sensibly and takes a tour through town with a chigago mobster running a big hotel. In Macau he travels to see the enigmatic Dr. Lobo, the gold king of the Orient, surely an inspiration for Goldfinger. And in Berlin he briefly tours the Russian eastern sector before heading back to west Berlin to meet up with a spy friend of his to talk about "modern" espionage in the spy capitol of the world.

Any Bond fan should have this book without any consideration, but anyone who looks back on the lost glamour of travels past should pick up a copy of Thrilling Cities to take along on their next trip.