Robert B. Lockhart

Robert Bruce Lockhart (1887-1970) had an extraordinarily varied life and is widely believed to be the inspiration for James Bond. Primarily a diplomat, he held posts in the Foreign Office serving in Russia during WW1 where he was accused of plotting to assassinate Lenin and imprisoned in the Kremlin until exchanged for Litvinov. He then served in Czechoslovakia and worked in the late 20s for Beaverbrook Newspapers until he took up writing full time. He returned to the FO in WW2 were he was Director-General of Political Warfare. He returned successfully to writing after the war and had a prolific output until he died in 1970.