London, July 5 (ANI): A historian has found evidence that Ian Fleming’s memorable fictional villain Goldfinger, created to beat rival James Bond, may have been based on a German spymaster who planned a real-life plot against the Bank of England.

Historian Andrew Cook, whose expertise lies in intelligence affairs, said that Auric Goldfinger’s plot to blow up the gold in Fort Knox could have stemmed from a conspiracy against Britain on the eve of the First World War.

Fleming’s work with British naval intelligence is known to have its influence on his Bond novels.

Cook thinks the writer may have taken the inspiration for the antagonist from Gustav Steinhauer, “the Kaiser’s master spy” who ran a network of German agents in the UK at the time around 1914.

“The Bank of England plot has been a secret for nearly 100 years and it is only now that we are beginning to uncover the truth,” Times Online quoted Cook as saying.

“If Britain’s Secret Service Bureau had not uncovered the plot and the Germans had succeeded, Britain would almost certainly have lost the first world war,” he added.

The expert continued: “We will never know for certain, but I believe that is where Fleming got the inspiration for Goldfinger.

“Fleming no doubt found out about the real-life plot against the Bank of England in 1914 and simply transposed it to America where the equivalent target would be Fort Knox.” (ANI)