Blood Diamonds: Tracing The Deadly Path Of The World's Most Precious Stones

Blood Diamonds: Tracing The Deadly Path Of The World's Most Precious Stones
by Greg Campbell

Blood Diamonds: Tracing The Deadly Path Of The World's Most Precious Stones
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Book Summary Information

Author: Greg Campbell
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2004-02-04
ISBN: 0813342201
Number of pages: 280
Publisher: Basic Books
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Book Reviews of Blood Diamonds: Tracing The Deadly Path Of The World's Most Precious Stones

Book Review: Mixed emotions, but ultimately another naive book about Africa's Ills
Summary: 2 Stars

1. This is a tough book to review.

2. On the one hand, it's fairly well written. The author presents information about the history of Sierra Leone and the past / present data in re: diamond industry. Furthermore, he graphically portrays the numerous horrors of the war there and the resultant utter human misery.

3. The problem is that (as I see it), the author is another among a seemingly long line of western authors who seem to suffer from some liberal guilt about western colonialism and thus blames most of the various ills in Africa to those things that are associated with the Europe /America, including... those buy / sell diamonds. But along with all naive people, the author always looks to the west in fixing all of Africa's problems. If the above statement seems to be illogical, it's largely because the book is in many ways, illogical and based on faulty underlying premises.

4. If one can get beyond the above, then the book is educational for the pure data content... although wading through the pages will get a bit frustrating at times (obviously depending on one's point of view).

Summary of Blood Diamonds: Tracing The Deadly Path Of The World's Most Precious Stones

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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