&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:On_Her_Majesty%27s_Secret_Service-Ian_Fleming.jpg) First edition cover, published by Jonathan Cape | |
| Author | Ian Fleming |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Richard Chopping |
| Language | English |
| Series | James Bond |
| Genre | Spy fiction |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
Publication date | 1 April 1963 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 288 |
| Preceded by | The Spy Who Loved Me |
| Followed by | You Only Live Twice |
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the tenth novel and eleventh book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape on 1 April 1963. Fleming changed the formula and structure from the previous novel, The Spy Who Loved Me, and made a determined effort to produce a work that adhered to his tried and tested format. The initial and secondary print runs sold out quickly, with over 60,000 copies sold in the first month, double that of the previous book's first month of sales. Fleming wrote the novel at Goldeneye, his holiday home in Jamaica, while Dr. No, the first entry in the James Bond film series by Eon Productions, was being filmed nearby.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the second book in what is known as the "Blofeld trilogy", which begins with Thunderball and concludes with You Only Live Twice. This episode centres on Bond's ongoing search to find Ernst Stavro Blofeld after the Thunderball incident. Bond finds Blofeld in Switzerland and attacks the centre where he is based, although Blofeld escapes in the confusion. Bond meets and falls in love with Contessa Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo during the story. The pair marry at the end of the novel, but hours after the ceremony, Blofeld and his partner, Irma Bunt, attack the couple and Tracy is killed. Fleming developed Bond's character within the book, showing an emotional side that was not present in the previous stories.
As he had done in previous novels, Fleming used his past experiences and details of people he met during his work to provide details in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The novel is one of three Bond stories to deal with the disruption of markets and the economy, in this case Blofeld's planned disruption to the food supply by bioterrorism. The theme of food and drink is referred to throughout the novel, with Bond's meals and drinks being described in detail.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service received broadly positive reviews in the British and American press with some reviewers pleased at the return to the more traditional form of Bond storyline. The novel was adapted as a three-part story in Playboy in 1963, serialised in eleven parts in the Daily Express and then developed as a daily cartoon strip in the Daily Express in 1964–1965. In 1969 the novel was adapted as the sixth film in the Eon Productions James Bond film series; this was the only film to star George Lazenby as Bond.