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Journalist Greg Campbell leads the reader down the international diamond trail of brutality, horror, and profit - providing an on-the-ground and in-the-mines story of global consequence. First discovered in 1930, the diamonds of Sierra Leone have funded one of the most savage rebel campaigns in modern history. These "blood diamonds" are smuggled out of West Africa and sold to legitimate diamond merchants in London, Antwerp, and New York, often with the complicity of the international diamond industry. Eventually, these very diamonds find their way into the rings and necklaces of brides and spouses the world over. Blood Diamonds is the gripping tale of how the diamond smuggling works, how the rebel war has effectively destroyed Sierra Leone and its people, and how the policies of the diamond industry - institutionalized in the 1880s by the De Beers cartel - have allowed it to happen. Award-winning journalist Greg Campbell traces the deadly trail of these diamonds, many of which are brought to the world market by fanatical enemies. These repercussions of diamond smuggling are felt far beyond the borders of the poor and war-ridden country of Sierra Leone, and the consequences of overlooking this African tragedy are both shockingly deadly and unquestionably global. Updated with a new epilogue.
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CROUCHED BY THE MINE'S EDGE, I tried to ignore the grilling persistence of the equatorial sun overhead and concentrate on the dirt under my feet. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
CROUCHED BY THE MINE'S EDGE, I tried to ignore the grilling persistence of the equatorial sun overhead and concentrate on the dirt under my feet. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Bought this book after watching the film and was not disappointed by it. A good book to give you an inside on diamonds trade and all the conflicts and killings behind it.
I reckon that with this book I will save a few grant cause I will definitely never buy a diamond and thus perpetuate this dirty and obscure business and if any woman actually asks me for a diamond I'll just point at the book and suggest a reading! If she afertwards still wants a diamond then pointing at door might be the best solution!! hehehe
I reckon that with this book I will save a few grant cause I will definitely never buy a diamond and thus perpetuate this dirty and obscure business and if any woman actually asks me for a diamond I'll just point at the book and suggest a reading! If she afertwards still wants a diamond then pointing at door might be the best solution!! hehehe
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
29 reviews
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
A Compelling Narrative with Its Flaws
20 April 2004
Format:Hardcover
Campbell writes compelling narrative with a fascinating array of characters - corrupt dictators, warlords, mercenaries, peacekeepers, child soldiers, missionaries, shady Middle Eastern merchants, diamond buyers, jewelers, diplomats, et al. - weaving in the tragedy that the pursuit of instant riches in the alluvial diamond fields of West Africa has wrought. The result is a modern morality tale about the scarce resources, globalization, and violence.
The book, however, is flawed by its author's failure to properly situate his narrative within the historical and political context of subregional conflict involving Liberia and Sierra Leone. The reader would thus do well to supplement this volume with a good political narrative like Pham's LIBERIA: PORTRAIT OF A FAILED STATE (Reed Press) or Ellis's MASK OF ANARCHY (New York University Press) in order to get a complete picture.
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Diamonds are not a girl's best friend....
21 Feb 2003
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I lived in Sierra Leone for quite a number of years and hence had the opportunity to experience what it was like to live sorrounded by poverty and diamonds (the Kono area). Unfortunately for me and my family, security reasons forced us to leave the country in the nineties.
Nowadays I live in Madrid, Spain. I'm a doctoral student and my research area is the diamond industry of Sierra Leone and its implications on the underdevelopment of Sierra Leone.
Mr. campbell's book has been very valuable to me because of the information it contains (for my disertation) and because it has sadly/happily brought me back to the country that I love most in the world.
Thank you Mr Campbell!
I strongly recommend the reading of this book.
Nowadays I live in Madrid, Spain. I'm a doctoral student and my research area is the diamond industry of Sierra Leone and its implications on the underdevelopment of Sierra Leone.
Mr. campbell's book has been very valuable to me because of the information it contains (for my disertation) and because it has sadly/happily brought me back to the country that I love most in the world.
Thank you Mr Campbell!
I strongly recommend the reading of this book.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Good but Not Final Word
8 Jan 2008
Format:Paperback
Mr. Campbell (no relation) has an engaging style and has written an informative, though skewed, account of the forces at play in the Sierra Leone tragedy. He skillfully describes how the greed for diamond sale revenue enabled this country to descend into chaos and unspeakable horror. However, he attempts to make this a Western guilt trip by emphasizing how willing market players are to look the other way, thus absolving themselves of any culpability for the bloodbath. Campbell builds on a thin reed indeed, and fails to make analogies with other resources from other strife ridden African countries, such as Angola and its oil, that would more accurately demonstrate how free markets work in an amoral, rather than immoral, environment. I don't see Campbell advocating boycotting Angolan oil because of the atrocities being committed in that conflict. Nor should he, because those transactions occur outside the frame work of a nation's internal affairs, no matter how unjust or cruel those may be. The fact is, African countries have been pursuing the path of self destruction for 5 decades now with no other incentive than for one ethnic or ideological group attempting to acquire wealth and power at the expense of the nation. Attempts to lay this at the West's feet are misguided, disingenuous and unhelpful on many levels, but especially for the average African themselves. While I recommend Campbell's readable volume for its conciseness and wit, please do not limit yourself in seeing other dimensions to this, especially the corruption of ECOWAS and its military mission as well as the ethnic jealousy involved between natives and the economically dominant Lebanese.
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