The second title in the "Blofeld trilogy", preceded by Thunderball (1961) and concluding with You Only Live Twice (1964). In the novel Bond adopts the guise of College of Arms herald Sir Hilary Bray to allow him access to Blofeld's secret lair on the Piz Gloria, a fictional mountain top in the Swiss Alps. Whilst there Bond discovers SPECTRE's latest diabolical scheme, to destroy the British & Irish economies via a group of female patients at Blofeld's clinic, brainwashed into becoming 'mules' for biological agents to be smuggled into Britain and Ireland. The novel is also significant in the Bond canon for the tragic love-interest supplied by Contessa Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo.

First edition, first impression; 8vo (193 x 132 mm); publisher's dark brown boards with ski-track motif to front board, titles to spine in silver, neat ink ownership to upper free endpaper, pictorial dust-jacket by Richard Chopping, very slight fading to spine, rubbed at head and tail, the latter with a tiny closed nick, mild dust-soiling to rear panel, otherwise bright, not price-clipped and internally fine.

Gilbert A11a 1.1