The Man Who Saved Britain (2006)

Turns out James Bond is more than a mere martini-swilling superspy. He's also a psycho-cultural manifestation of the political and historical forces pulling the British Empire apart during the post -World War II years. Happily, Simon Widner's brilliantly obsessive exegesis, The Man Who Saved Britain, on the meaning and influence of the 007 character — part sociological study, part geek memoir — also has a sense of humor about its subject (''We can argue almost indefinitely about which Bond film is the worst — but in the end it is an argument that sullies us all''). Indeed, Bond hasn't provided this much entertainment in decades.