Simon Winder,

of the Sunday Herald, wrote a very interesting article on how James Bond is something of a constant in Britain, despite five decades of massive change. The full article is here but what I want to point out is his conclusion:

"It is part of the weird circularity of watching Casino Royale that here is the same character, far closer in many ways to Fleming’s intentions than even Connery (Craig looks like one of the muscular, brutal Bonds featured on the 1950s Pan paperback covers), following the same story, working for the same organisation. And yet everything else has changed. This makes Bond almost a religious figure – a sort of alcoholic, homicidal version of Jesus, a reassuring constant in a Britain that has been through so much. It is a sort of miracle that after so many books, so many movies, so many years, the same character can be rendered fresh and interesting."

That bit in the middle is pretty funny.