Mark Simmons comes from a family with a long tradition of service in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines and in the 1970s he served in the Royal Marines. He has written 200 feature articles for publications in the UK and USA on naval/military, motoring and travel subjects, as well as four non-fiction books and five novels.
""'Ian Fleming and Operation Golden Eye' goes into great detail as to the efforts of the British to keep Spain neutral.""--John Purvis ""Detailed [...] readers with a deep interest in WWII will find this rewarding.""-- ""Publishers Weekly"" ""Ian Fleming and Operation Golden Eye is an enjoyable read chock full of great details.""--Benjamin Welton ""New York Journal of Books"" ""Simmons gives us an outline history of British intelligence in both world wars, glimpses at the actions and thinking of scores of important actors, such as Winston Churchill, Francisco Franco, and Wilhelm Canaris, and accounts, often in some detail, of numerous specific schemes, double crosses, commando raids, and more. In the process, Simmons also explains the influence of many of these persons and events on the ""life"" and adventures of Fleming's hero, James Bond. A good read for anyone with an interest in the Second World War, covert operations, or the Bond series.""-- ""The NYMAS Review"" For the historian, those who have seen the film 'A Bridge Too Far' and anyone planning a trip to the battlefields and landing sites of Arnhem and its environs, this will make an excellent guidebook.-- ""Classic Military Vehicle""