Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.
Download to your computer
Kindle Cloud Reader
Facebook Twitter Pinterest <Embed>

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See this image

Diamonds Are Forever (The James Bond Classic Library) Hardcover – August, 1997

by
Ian Fleming (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Ian Fleming Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Ian Fleming (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars 177 customer reviews
Book 4 of 45 in the James Bond 007 Series
See all 91 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Price
New from Used from
Kindle
"Please retry"
$8.11
— —
Hardcover
"Please retry"
—
$39.95 $12.50
Hardcover, August, 1997
—
$41.56 $3.98
Paperback
"Please retry"
$7.48
$3.25 $2.52
Audible, Unabridged
"Please retry"
—
— —
Mass Market Paperback
"Please retry"
—
$19.44 $0.99
Audio CD, Audiobook, CD, Unabridged
"Please retry"
—
$30.24 $27.50
Unknown Binding
"Please retry"
—
— $9.95
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Doubt (Caroline Auden)
Doubt (Caroline Auden)
Newbie lawyer Caroline Auden risks her life to expose a biotech giant’s deadly secrets. Learn More
click to open popover

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Back
  1. From Russia, With Love (The James Bond Classic Library)
    Ian Fleming
    4.4 out of 5 stars 262
    Hardcover
  2. Moonraker (The James Bond Classic Library)
    Ian Fleming
    4.4 out of 5 stars 265
    Hardcover
  3. Goldfinger (The James Bond Classic Library)
    Ian Fleming
    4.3 out of 5 stars 195
    Hardcover
  4. Doctor No (The James Bond Classic Library)
    Ian Fleming
    4.3 out of 5 stars 246
    Hardcover
  5. Casino Royale
    Ian Fleming
    4.2 out of 5 stars 809
    Hardcover
  6. For Your Eyes Only (The James Bond Classic Library)
    Ian Fleming
    4.2 out of 5 stars 109
    Hardcover
Next
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
The latest book club pick from Oprah
"The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead is a magnificent novel chronicling a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. See more

Product Details

  • Hardcover
  • Publisher: Fine Communications (August 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1567310508
  • ISBN-13: 978-1567310504
  • Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 5.8 x 8.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (177 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,460,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsA flawed gem
By John B. Maggiore on May 23, 2002
Format: Hardcover
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER marks the point in the James Bond series where Ian Fleming begins to tinker with the absurd. Later in the series, Dr. No is killed by falling guano, and Blofeld holds up on a Japanese "suicide island." In DAF, Bond takes a mud bath and fights a gangster who dresses up like a cowboy. Fleming writes that the gangster "should have looked ridiculous, but he didn't" in his western regalia. Funny, his description reads like he looks ridiculous.
All of Fleming's Bond books are worth reading, and DAF is no exception. But this isn't his strongest work. The theme switches from gangsters to western to Agatha Christy-esque cruise-ship drama. It doesn't really all hold together. Fleming also keeps introducing new villains. He is most effective with Wint and Kidd, who have an ominous presence throughout the book. Fleming perfects the ominous presence with Donovan Grant in his next book, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, but Wint and Kidd are adequately eerie and threatening.
Less effective are the Spang brothers. The Spangs seem to be the embodiment of Fleming's inability to make up his mind about who his villain was going to be. What little personality these characters have (along with appearance and even one of their names) changes almost every time they are mentioned. They don't catch on as other Bond villains do, which is perhaps why they didn't translate even in name into any Bond movie.
Another flaw of the book, and to some degree the series, is that Bond seems to be going along for the ride in DAF. He forgets or doesn't notice the most obvious clues (and is surprised by Wint and Kidd), lets his guard down at the mud baths, and generally doesn't prove why he's so special. He and the girl, Tiffany Case, come close to falling in love...but why?Read more ›
3 Comments 27 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
3.0 out of 5 starsA slight slump
By Glenn Miller on December 26, 2005
Format: Paperback
This fourth book in Fleming's series doesn't quite hold up to the three previous Bond novels. The problem is that Fleming tries to create a far more complicated plot while at the same time fitting it into the 220-page formula of the previous Bond adventures. The end result feels like a pat adventure in which everything is bundled up in far too quick a fashion. The resolution of Bond's relationship with the ever-present female foil is oddly dropped in the final chapter. Are we to believe the two of them rode off happily into the sunset? Settled down and had children? Does she appear in the series' fifth novel? Who knows... like so many other elements in this particular entry, these questions and more are left unanswered. It's a shame. After the tight plotting and good character development of Moonraker, Fleming uncharacteristically dropped the ball on this particular one. Perhaps the publishers were pushing him too hard to meet a deadline. Diamonds could have been a classic, given the plot Fleming was playing with. Unfortunately, he falls a carat or two short.
Comment 6 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
3.0 out of 5 starsJust Not That Exciting
By Donald J. Bingle on April 13, 2007
Format: Paperback
One almost gets the impression that both Ian Fleming and Bond were coasting on their reputations in this book. The plot is about comparatively low stakes for a spy novel, the pace is leisurely, Bond is oddly passive (Felix Leiter and Tiffany Case save the day as often as Bond does) and not particularly clever (at one point he almost blows his mission because he apparently got bored waiting for something to happen to move it along), and the villains and action sequences are just not that memorable, at least not in a good way. Strangely enough, that means that the book suffers in comparison both to the movie (which, while hardly five-star, had some quirky, memorable moments) and John Gardner's later Bond novels, which dig deeper into both the characters and the settings of the world of 007. While not actively bad, DAF does little to show you why Bond became a literary or cultural phenomenon. Donald J. Bingle, Author of Forced Conversion.
Comment 6 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
4.0 out of 5 stars"If you like James Bond (and who doesn't?), then read the books!"
By Carl E. Ahlm on July 28, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
If you like James Bond (and who doesn't?), then read the books! As with many of my generation, I first became exposed to James Bond through the movie franchise with Sean Connery and yes, the good old drive-in theater. Ian Fleming in 1952, at his home “Goldeneye” in Jamaica, he wrote a book called Casino Royale—and James Bond was born. One of my favorite Bond movies was "Diamonds Are Forever;" the book, however, written in 1956, was not quite as strong as the movie or the earlier three Bond novels. The book suffers from a weaker plot than most and a weaker and poorly fleshed out villain.

Still, if you like Bond, you really should read the books, and "Diamonds Are Forever," despite some weaknesses, is still worth the read. Unfortunately not a lot of action happens in this book compared to earlier works; there is clearly a lack of tension for the reader. Never-the-less, the novel still offers the reader a good adventure feast which one can enjoy without gaining any weight! Many of Fleming's books, as this one, are certainly not politically correct - especially in some racial imagery! Regardless, knowing the time period and the fact that Fleming spent considerable time in Jamaica, so some of the language and local color is not surprising. The Bond franchise has been a long lasting mega-hit, and Ian Fleming deserves more credit for how carefully he crafted the plot and character in these books. If you enjoy Bond, if you enjoy action and adventure, don't just watch the movies --- read the Bond books!
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsNot a gem

I was disappointed. Maybe it's because the times have changed, but these are not the thrillers I was expecting. Me. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Brian D. Madigan
4.0 out of 5 starsI am a james bond fan, from the first ...

I am a james bond fan, from the first book to the last. I. Fleming can do no wrong. What else can I say?

Published 1 month ago by Robert Thornton
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Good book, avid fan of the bond series. But wouldn't put this as my favorite.

Published 2 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsA great read!

A great Fleming adventure! In this Chivers edition, some wording is different from Signet...more of a UK flavor. Love it!

Published 4 months ago by K&S
3.0 out of 5 starsNot as Memorable

Dia­monds are For­ever by Ian Flem­ing is the fourth novel fea­tur­ing British Secret Ser­vice agent James Bond, 007. The book was first pub­lished in 1956. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Man of La Book
4.0 out of 5 starsa fun read.

As usual with the Fleming Bond books, a fun read.

Published 5 months ago by Bart C.
4.0 out of 5 starsAnother fun trip to America with James Bond

Much better depiction of the United States and there was in a previous James Bond book. It would've been nice if there were a couple more extravagant dinners or lists of clothing.

Published 5 months ago by David Cole
5.0 out of 5 starsEach one is great. You gain a much better understanding of Bond ...

I started reading the Flemming Bond novels in the order he wrote them. Each one is great. You gain a much better understanding of Bond through Flemming's writing - so much better... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Robb B.
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Classic Bond.

Published 5 months ago by PW
5.0 out of 5 starsTiffany Case, Shady Tree, et al--make for a great James Bond [in the...

amazing how given the original date of the material, HOW timeless Fleming's work remains.

Published 6 months ago by Greg Pagans

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.

Pages with Related Products. See and discover other items: special forces fiction