In the 1950's Ian Fleming wrote a series of novels starring intrepid British spy James Bond. Many of these books featured rather outlandish tales of daring and cunning from the British super spy as he out did a series of evil baddies with hoards of henchmen fabulous wealth, private islands, enormous super yachts and enormous power and influence.
Rather oddly, his tales of spying have turned out, more than fifity years later, to be the least accurate of the elements of his stories whilst the rise of super rich people who virtually control countries, have friends in high places who own islands, super yachts and fleets of private aircraft (as well as their own private armies) have suddenly become a real reality.
With the rise of the Russian Oligarch suddenly Ian Fleming's grotesque caricatures of the archetypal bad guy set upon world domination no longer seem like fantasy figures. I know, it is unfair to single them all out in this way. Sure, Roman Abramovic is hardly an Alisha Usmanov, and he seems keener of winning the Champions League than he does on running the world, but I wonder what Ian Fleming would make of today's Oligarchs.
It would certainly make for some interesting stories.
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