The Man with the Golden Gun (novel) who managed the Tate & Lyle plantations in West Indies after the war and the book's main villain, Francisco Scaramanga, was named after George Scaramanga, an Etonian contemporary of Fleming's: the pair are said to have fought at school. The effects of the two Eon Productions Bond films released prior to the writing of the novel ("Dr. No" and "From Russia with Love") were reflected in the novel through the increased number of gadgets used. One of these was the poison gun used in the scene of the attempted assassination of M. The idea was taken from the story of
The Man with the Golden Gun (novel) published in the UK on 1 April 1965 by Jonathan Cape, was 221 pages long and cost eighteen shillings. Cover artist Richard Chopping undertook the cover design again and was paid 300 guineas for the artwork. "The Man with the Golden Gun" was published in the US in August 1965, was 183 pages long and cost $4.50. Even before the US edition was published, "The Man with the Golden Gun" was ninth place on the best-seller lists, with 80,000 pre-orders for the hardback version. Critics did not praise "The Man with the Golden Gun", although much of the criticism was