One of the best books I keep at my bedside is "From Here to Eternity" by James Jones. It tells the story of characters in Hawaii caught up in the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy," as President Franklin Roosevelt announced to the nation. (I was 5.) It also is in a historical sense a dramatization of America flexing her political and economic muscle as she emerges from the Great Depression and onto the world political stage. If you've seen the movie, which is on TCM from time to time (with Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr), you will love the book, which contains other sharply drawn characters omitted from the movie.
Willard B. Shapira, Roseville
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