"From the jet-setting creator of James Bond--the worldly secret agent whose missions took him to some of the globe's most exotic locales--comes a whirlwind adventure up the side streets and down the back alleys of mid-twentieth-century Europe, Asia, and North America. These essays comprise Ian Flemings's highly personal impressions of fourteen of the world's most beguiling cities--from Vienna to Hong Kong to Chicago and beyond. With the trained eye of a master novelist, Fleming reveals the hidden places and secret intelligence that made hot spots like Macao and Monte Carlo come alive for him and other discerning travelers of the postwar era. From a geisha house of the nightclubs where high rollers gather to the driver's seat of a Ford Thunderbird as it rockets down the autobahn, Ian Fleming sketches vivid observations of fast lane life in the thrilling cities he loved best."--Page 4 of cover.