Ian Fleming romance points up ambiguous attitude to spying

Why did Edward Snowden's revelations about state surveillance not rattle us? Fleming has the answer

Dominic Copper in Flemming
(Image credit: COPYRIGHT LINE REQUIRED: No Copyright line required)

WHY are the British so blasé about being spied on? When Edward Snowden spilled the beans about the wholesale surveillance of our digital lives, Germany erupted and we barely mustered a shrug.

The answer, or part of it, lies in programmes like Fleming, Sky Atlantic's new war-time drama about Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond.

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Holden Frith is The Week’s digital director. He also makes regular appearances on “The Week Unwrapped”, speaking about subjects as diverse as vaccine development and bionic bomb-sniffing locusts. He joined The Week in 2013, spending five years editing the magazine’s website. Before that, he was deputy digital editor at The Sunday Times. He has also been TheTimes.co.uk’s technology editor and the launch editor of Wired magazine’s UK website. Holden has worked in journalism for nearly two decades, having started his professional career while completing an English literature degree at Cambridge University. He followed that with a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago. A keen photographer, he also writes travel features whenever he gets the chance.