From Here to Eternity Add a review

From Here to Eternity is the debut novel of American author James Jones, published by Scribner's in 1951. Set in 1941, the novel focuses on several members of a U.S. Army infantry company stationed in Hawaii in the months leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

It is loosely based on Jones's experiences in the pre–World War II Hawaiian Division's 27th Infantry and the unit in which he served, Company E ("The Boxing Company"). Fellow company member Hal Gould said that while the novel was based on the company, including some depictions of actual persons, the characters are fictional, and the harsh conditions and described events are inventions. Other company members who served with Jones said that "The book 'From Here to Eternity' is 80 percent true" or ninety percent true. After viewing the 1953 film adaptation, company member Joseph A. Maggio sued Jones and his publishers and Columbia Pictures, claiming his character had been defamed. Robert Lee Stewart, on whom the character Robert E. Lee Prewitt is based, complained of his dislike of Jones's novel after reading it: "I was unhappy for the simple reason I felt it was an invasion of my privacy. I would never have done it to him – he was my friend." Stewart decided against filing a lawsuit because he valued the camaraderie he and Jones had developed while serving in the Army.

From Here to Eternity won the National Book Award and was named one of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th century by the Modern Library Board. The book was later made into an Academy Award–winning film starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, and Ernest Borgnine as well as two television adaptations and a stage musical.