Diamonds Are Forever (novel)

Diamonds Are Forever

First edition cover
Author	Ian Fleming
Cover artist	Pat Marriott
Country	United Kingdom
Series	James Bond
Genre	Spy fiction
Publisher	Jonathan Cape
Publication date	26 March 1956 (hardback)
Pages	257
Preceded by	Moonraker
Followed by	From Russia, with Love

Diamonds Are Forever is the fourth novel by the English author Ian Fleming to feature his fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond. Fleming wrote the story at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica, inspired by a Sunday Times article on diamond smuggling. The book was first published by Jonathan Cape in the United Kingdom on 26 March 1956.

The story centres on Bond's investigation of a diamond-smuggling ring originating in the mines of Sierra Leone and ends in Las Vegas. Along the way Bond meets and falls in love with one of the members of the smuggling gang, Tiffany Case. Much of Fleming's background research formed the basis for his non-fiction 1957 book The Diamond Smugglers. Diamonds Are Forever deals with international travel, marriage and the transitory nature of life.

As with Fleming's previous novels, Diamonds Are Forever received broadly positive reviews at the time of publication. The story was serialised in the Daily Express newspaper, first in an abridged, multi-part form and then as a comic strip. In 1971 it was adapted into the seventh Bond film in the series and was the last Eon Productions film to star Sean Connery as Bond.

The British Secret Service agent James Bond is sent on an assignment by his superior, M. Acting on information received from Special Branch, M tasks Bond with infiltrating a smuggling ring transporting diamonds from mines in the Crown colony of Sierra Leone to the United States. Bond must infiltrate the smugglers' pipeline to uncover those responsible. Using the identity of "Peter Franks", a country house burglar turned diamond smuggler, he meets Tiffany Case, an attractive gang member who has developed an antipathy towards men after being gang-raped as a teenager.