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The “Heroes of Our Childhood” series looks at the world famous mass culture characters, who failed to figure in even the most liberal of Soviet reading lists. Who were the historical prototypes of James Bond and Count Dracula? Why was the story of Apache Chief Winnetou never published in the Soviet Union? And how did the mask of Zorro differ from that of Fantômas?
Examining the literary and film characters who could have been the “heroes of our childhood”, we explore a multitude of fascinating details from their lives, the history of dozens of adventure-packed novels and films, as well as the biographies of the writers, actors and directors who created some of the great myths, heroes and villains of the 20th century.
 | Natalya Golitsyna, Andrey Shary. 007: On Her Majestry’s Secret Service
The most famous secret agent in the world.
The most famous cinematic hero of the twentieth century.
The most successful film series in the history of cinema!
«This is the first Russian-language studies of the literary and cinematic figure of James Bond. The authors, Radio Liberty journalists Natalya Golitsyna and Andrey Sharyi, have compiled one of the world’s most thorough Bond compendiums. The life of Ian Fleming is compared with that of his famous hero, as the book describes in fascinating details the writing of each novel and creation of each film. This involves comprehensive background information on the directors, actors and producers who helped make James Bond a modern legend. Bond girls, Bond chic, Bond syndrome and Bond as an ideal English gentleman are all topics discussed by the authors. And why was agent 007 banned in the USSR, even though he was given the Lenin Award for a dangerous joint mission for the KGB and M15?
The release of the book coincides with the worldwide premiere of Casino Royale at the end of 2006.
| |  | Andrei Shary. The F Sign: Fantômas in Books and on the Screen
The most successful series of pulp detective novels in the history of French fiction.
The most popular Western film to be shown in the Soviet Union.
A century ago, their hero, the elusive criminal Fantômas, held the French capital paralysed with fear. In between the two World Wars, together with the Surrealists, Fantômas succeeded in erasing the boundaries between truth and fiction. In the 1960s, a series of outstanding comedy films turned the arch-villain into an icon of mass culture.
The first Russian book on Fantômas, The F Sign is also one of the most comprehensive studies into the portrayal of the master criminal in cinema and literature.
| |  | Andrei Shary. The W Sign: The Leader of Redskins in Books and on the Screen
Karl May is the most popular German-language author in the world. Editions of his books have run to 200 million copies. His tales of Winnetou and his blood brother Old Shatterhand spawned a hugely successful series of Euro-Westerns. In the DEFA ‘Indian Movies’, ‘The name of the film didn’t matter. Each movie showed Goyko Mitic in excellent form.’ In the 1960s, the Red Indians won over hearts and minds on both sides of the Berlin Wall. Andrei Shary’s book is one of the most comprehensive studies of Karl May’s heroes, and the German films on the Wild West. It is also the first such study in Russian.
| |  | Andrei Shary. The Z Sign: Zorro in Books and on the Screen
Featured in dozens of films and television series, Johnston McCulley’s well-loved character has been charming readers and viewers all over the world for the best part of a century. A sensitive and refined aristocrat by day, at night Don Diego de la Vega turns into Zorro – a black-clad masked outlaw. Fearless defender of the poor and oppressed, his calling card is the letter Z – three deft slashes of the sword. Douglas Fairbanks, Tyrone Power, Guy Williams, Alain Delon, Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas have all played the legendary character. The first such work in Russian, Shary’s book is one of the most comprehensive studies of the literary and film hero.
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