Was there ever a real superspy like James Bond, Her Majesty's secret agent with a licence to kill? A resounding "No" was the answer given by Dusan 'Dusko' Popov, himself the real character who inspired writer Ian Fleming to create agent 007.

"I doubt whether a flesh and blood Bond would last 48 hours as a spy," Popov declared to a group of Italian journalists in 1981, shortly before his death at his residence outside Cannes, on the Mediterranean Cote d'Azur in France.

Casino Royale , the book by Fleming that gave birth to the 007 legend, reached its 53rd birthday recently, and Dr No , the first film in which Scottish actor Sean Connery portrayed Popov in the shape of Bond, turned 43 this month.