Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 16, 2023
Goldfinger is the seventh novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. First published in 1959, it centres on Bond's investigation into the gold-smuggling activities of Auric Goldfinger, who is suspected of being connected to Soviet counter-intelligence. Bond uncovers Goldfinger's plot involving the gold reserves at Fort Knox (pictured). In Goldfinger, Fleming presents the character of James Bond as a more complex individual than in the previous novels. A theme of Bond as a St George figure is echoed by the fact that Bond is a British Secret Service agent sorting out an American problem. Fleming probably based the gold-obsessed character of Goldfinger on the American gold tycoon Charles W. Engelhard Jr. On its release, the novel went to the top of the best-seller lists. It was adapted as the third James Bond feature film of the Eon Productions series, released in 1964 and starring Sean Connery as Bond. (This article is part of a featured topic: Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and short stories.)