Editing Moonraker (novel) (section)

==Background and writing history==
In early 1953 the film producer [[Alexander Korda]] read a proof copy of ''[[Live and Let Die (novel)|Live and Let Die]]'', and informed its author, [[Ian Fleming]], that he was excited by the book, but that it would not make a good basis for a film.{{sfn|Lycett|1996|p=250}} Fleming told the producer that his next book was to be an expansion of an idea for a screenplay, set in London and Kent, adding that the location would allow "for some wonderful film settings".{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|pp=224–25}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 141-1880, Peenemünde, Start einer V2.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=A black and white photograph showing the launch of a V-2 rocket; the rocket is twice its own height from the launchpad, which is partially obscured by clouds of smoke|A [[V-2 rocket]] launch from summer 1943: the threat remembered from the war was the basis of the novel.]]
Fleming undertook a significant amount of background research in preparation for writing ''Moonraker''; he asked his fellow correspondent on ''[[The Sunday Times]]'', [[Anthony Terry]], for information on the Second World War German [[Resistance movement|resistance]] force—the [[Werwolf|Werewolves]]—and German V-2 rockets. The latter was a subject on which he wrote to the science fiction writer [[Arthur C. Clarke]] and the [[British Interplanetary Society]].{{sfn|Lycett|1996|p=254}}{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=56}} Fleming also visited the [[Wimpole Street]] psychiatrist Eric Strauss to discuss the traits of [[Narcissistic personality disorder|megalomaniacs]]; Strauss lent him the book ''Men of Genius'', which provided the link between megalomania and childhood thumb-sucking. Fleming used this information to give Drax [[diastema]], a common result of thumb-sucking.{{sfn|Lycett|1996|p=254}} According to his biographer [[Andrew Lycett]], Fleming "wanted to make ''Moonraker'' his most ambitious and personal novel yet."{{sfn|Lycett|1996|p=253}} Fleming, a keen card player, was fascinated by the background to the 1890 [[royal baccarat scandal]],{{efn|The royal baccarat scandal, also known as the Tranby Croft affair, was a British gambling scandal of 1890 involving the [[Prince of Wales]]—the future King [[Edward VII]]. The scandal started during a house party when [[Sir William Gordon-Cumming, 4th Baronet|Sir William Gordon-Cumming]], a decorated [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] in the [[Scots Guards]], was accused of cheating at [[Baccarat (card game)|baccarat]] in a game at which the prince was present. Although the parties tried to keep the events secret, the news leaked out, leading to a high-profile court case, at which the prince was called as a witness. The judgement went against Gordon-Cumming, who was dismissed from the army and was ostracised from society for the rest of his life.{{sfn|Matthew|2004}}{{sfn|Tomes|2010}}}} and when in 1953 he met a woman who had been present at the game, he questioned her so intently that she burst into tears.{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=57}}

In January 1954 Fleming and his wife, [[Ann Fleming (socialite)|Ann]], travelled to their [[Goldeneye (estate)|Goldeneye estate]] in Jamaica for their annual two-month holiday.{{sfn|Benson|1988|p=7}} He had already written two Bond novels, ''[[Casino Royale (novel)|Casino Royale]]'', which had been published in April 1953, and ''Live and Let Die'', whose publication was imminent.{{sfn|Lycett|1996|pp=241, 255}}{{efn|''Live and Let Die'' was published in hardback by [[Jonathan Cape]] on 5 April 1954.{{sfn|Lycett|1996|p=255}}}} He began writing ''Moonraker'' on his arrival in the Caribbean.{{sfn|Benson|1988|p=7}} He later wrote an article for ''[[Books and Bookmen]]'' magazine describing his approach to writing, in which he said: "I write for about three hours in the morning&nbsp;... and I do another hour's work between six and seven in the evening. I never correct anything and I never go back to see what I have written&nbsp;... By following my formula, you write 2,000 words a day."{{sfn|Faulks|Fleming|2009|p=320}} By 24 February he had written over 30,000 words, although he wrote to a friend that he felt like he was already parodying the two earlier Bond novels.{{sfn|Lycett|1996|pp=254–55}} Fleming's own copy bears the following inscription, "This was written in January and February 1954 and published a year later. It is based on a film script I have had in my mind for many years."{{sfn|Barnes|Hearn|2003|p=130}} He later said that the idea for the film had been too short for a full novel, and that he "had to more or less graft the first half of the book onto my film idea in order to bring it up to the necessary length".{{sfn|Lycett|1996|p=276}}

Fleming considered several titles for the story; his first choice had been ''The Moonraker'', until [[Noël Coward]] reminded him of a novel of the same name by [[F. Tennyson Jesse]].{{sfn|Lycett|1996|p=257}} Fleming then considered ''The Moonraker Secret'', ''The Moonraker Plot'', ''The Inhuman Element'', ''Wide of the Mark'', ''The Infernal Machine'',{{sfn|Lycett|1996|p=257}} ''Mondays are Hell''{{sfn|Griswold|2006|p=105}} and ''Out of the Clear Sky''.{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=56}} [[George Wren Howard]] of Jonathan Cape suggested ''Bond & the Moonraker'', ''The Moonraker Scare'' and ''The Moonraker Plan'',{{sfn|Griswold|2006|p=105}} while his friend, the writer [[William Plomer]], suggested ''Hell is Here'';{{sfn|Griswold|2006|p=105}}{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|p=56}} the final choice of ''Moonraker'' was a suggestion by Wren Howard.{{sfn|Griswold|2006|p=105}}

Although Fleming provided no dates within his novels, two writers have identified different timelines based on events and situations within the [[List of James Bond novels and short stories|novel series]] as a whole.  John Griswold and [[Henry Chancellor (author and filmmaker)|Henry Chancellor]]—both of whom have written books on behalf of [[Ian Fleming Publications]]—put the events of ''Moonraker'' in 1953; Griswold is more precise, and considers the story to have taken place in May of that year.{{sfn|Griswold|2006|p=13}}{{sfn|Chancellor|2005|pp=98–99}}