Double O Seven, James Bond, A Report  Double O Seven, James Bond, A Report (1964), by O. F. (Oswald Frederick) Snelling, is the first book-length, critical analysis of the James Bond novels, and the only such study Ian Fleming approved. It was published in August 1964, the month when Fleming died, a coincidence that earned the book's first edition a wide readership. A lifelong devotee of British thriller writers, Snelling was a professional antiquarian working in the Hodgson auction house, where he met Ian Fleming, who had gone there to do research. In the course of writing "James Bond, A Report", he learned that novelist Kingsley Amis also was writing a like study, so, Snelling worked quickly to ensure that his book would be published first. He succeeded; Amis's scholarly, literary, critical study, "The James Bond Dossier" (1965), was published in late 1965. Since then, the books are compared; some aficionados consider Snelling's book the superior contribution to the field of critical literary studies of James Bond. In Britain, Panther Books reprinted "Double O Seven, James Bond, A Report" in paperback; it was translated to and published in French, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, and Hebrew editions. In the U.S., the New American Library, Fleming's North American publishers, issued it in 1965. O.F. Snelling's literary criticism of agent 007 is a five-part report. First, “His Predecessors”, observes the similarities among the upper-class “Clubland Tradition” novelists John Buchan, Sapper (H. C. McNeile), and Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer) and their influence upon the writer Ian Fleming. Second, “His Image” analyses the character, James Bond, secret agent 007 of the British Secret Service. Third, “His Women”, the longest section, examines and explores the women and Bond's relationships with them, and how they — the man and the women — changed in the series’ course. Fourth, “His Adversaries” examines the villains — Le Chiffre, Dr. No, Mister Big, Ernst Stavro Blofeld et al. — and describes their social, political, and personal motivations for doing evil, especially against Britain. The final, fifth section, “His Future” examines the literary and cinematic possibilities for the Bond character in 1964 — when Fleming was still writing.