Blood Diamonds

Tracing the Deadly Path of the World's Most Precious Stones

De: Greg Campbell

Narrado por: Tom Weiner

Duración: 7 h y 2 m

Resumen del Editor

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 the world over.

Blood Diamonds is the gripping story of how 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 and the repercussions felt far beyond the poor and war-ridden country of Sierra Leone.

©2002 Greg Campbell (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A vivid, hair-raising tale of brutal proportions that outdistances any fictional tale of derring-do." (Washington Times)
"This is an important, gut-wrenching story, one still unfolding in the wake of the war and September 2001." (San Francisco Chronicle)
"Mr. Campbell tells this complex tale from a personal, feet-on-the-ground perspective....He reminds us that there is no longer any such thing as an isolated conflict that governments and corporations can ignore with impunity." (New York Times)

a diamond is forever

loved it very informative. The reading was easy to follow. I could not wait to read more i feel more educated after reading this book.

An eye-opening read that will make you think twice

I wish that I had read this book sooner to warn me about the vicious brutality that has been perpetrated in Africa over diamond mining. It is sad how poorly regulated this industry is, and what a slick business the de Beers corporation has done to manipulate the market to keep prices artifically high and their pockets fat. I only have one diamond and I have to wonder if some poor soul had limbs hacked off over this tiny bit of rock. I am glad that I read this book because it has opened my eyes to the industry. If I ever buy another diamond it will be from the Canadian mines, cruelty free and from workers paid a decent wage.

Stunning

Made you really think. Had some parts that where actually hard to listen to with describing the children but gave a good perspective

Diamonds are not for love

Any American lady who reads this book will no longer think that diamonds stand for love. They stand for hate and greed and mutilation.

Interesting perspective

The voice fits the narrative but there are the occasional mispronunciation of names like Tanzania. Content wise this is no longer the most current material but still provides insight into a point in recent history often overlooked.

Stunning brutality..

As a Swede born in the 90’s I’ve only heard of the conflict but never really taken a deep dive to learn more about it. Absolutely stunning how brutal humans can be for economic gains.

A good listen for people to learn the story behind some of the luxury jewels that people buy but rarely think of its bloody past.

Heavy but necessary

It was tough, reading about all of the atrocities of the RUF in Sierra Leone. A necessary read nonetheless.

Very bloody and very real.

This book is not really tracing the path of the conflict diamonds very far, it is describing the conflict and the politics involved in the civil war in and around Sierra Leone.

The book is very exiting to listen to since this book was written after "on location" research in the conflict zone.

The book is well written and it is not difficult to imagine the bloody details described in this book, like people having their hands chopped of by RUF rebels because the president had asked the population to hold hands and face the problems as a united country.

Highly recomended!

Excellent

People don't count when it come to big business .... Ruthless , Frightening what's happening for the sake of diamonds.. Leave item on the shelves..

Important Book, Needs Updating, Lacks Perspective

Blood Diamonds is an uneven book. It provides gripping and daring reporting on the crimes against humanity inflicted on Sierra Leonians in the late nineties. And it lays out a comprehensive view of the diamond trade and how it relates to Sierra Leone. But it paints a much less coherent picture of the politics of the country while failing to understand, much less depict, the United Nations intervention which helped bring the fighting to a close. All too often, this reader was left lost in the weeds and wanting to understand the bigger picture better. The author’s potshots at the U.N., which was in many cases protecting him, coupled with a failure to revise the book, which seems to have been written around 2002, did not help.

All in all, listen to this book if you want to understand the conflict in Sierra Leone, if only because it seems to be the only book on it that Audible has produced. Listen to it if you want to understand the looting of African resources, because, along with John Pendergrast’s better written and more focused Congo Stories, it is about the only book on the matter to be produced by Audible as well. Listen to it for its gripping stories. But it is not the best book for feeling into the pain and learning to empathize with the victims of crimes against humanity, though the author does try. Nor is it a good place to understand African politics or those of the region.

However much the overall book may suffer from some deficiencies, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, and page by page, it is a well written book on an important topic that can enrich your understanding of the world.

Theo Horesh, author of The Holocausts We All Deny