Brigadier Hugh Willing CBE

for The Tennant Lecture Series

on Sir Ian Fleming

Tuesday 20 January 2026

Lecture in the EM Forster Theatre at 8pm

Drinks in the Theatre Foyer from 7.15pm

Ian Fleming - the creator of the Cold War’s archetypal secret agent, was infinitely more complex and interesting than his iconic fictional character, Agent 007. Yet the creator of James Bond considered his own books “piffle” and was happy to let people think that his fictional hero was based on his own seemingly unremarkable career in intelligence. However, recent revelations have shown that in fact the author himself was involved in the shady world of espionage for over three decades, and despite unpromising beginnings, he became a key figure in British wartime Secret intelligence. Hugh Willing will tell us how Ian Fleming’s wide-ranging and exciting life provided the backdrop for his James Bond novels.

This event is fully accessible.