April 13, 1953 was a red letter the day in popular culture. It was when Ian Fleming’s debut novel, Casino Royale, was published, and the world was introduced to James Bond. The success of Casino Royale in the U.K. paved the way for subsequent works by Fleming, featuring Bond. In 1961, President Kennedy named 'From Russia With Love' as one of his top ten favorite books in Life magazine. This endorsement made the book a bestseller in the U.S. Some say it was Kennedy's way of linking himself to Bond and projecting himself as a Bond-like heroic leader taking on...