Blood on the Stone

Greed, Corruption and War in the Global Diamond Trade

By (author) Ian Smillie

Publication date:

15 August 2010

Publisher

Anthem Press

Dimensions:

216x140mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780857289797

Africa’s diamond wars took four million lives. ‘Blood on the Stone’ tells the story of how diamonds came to be so dangerous, describing the great diamond cartel and a dangerous pipeline leading from war-torn Africa to the glittering showrooms of Paris, London and New York. It describes the campaign that forced an industry and more than 50 governments to create a global control mechanism, and it provides a sobering prognosis on its future.

Glossary; Preface; Prologue; 1. Of Judgement and Cunning Work: Dirty Diamonds; 2. The River of Big Returns: Geology and History; 3. De Beers: The Delicate Equipoise; 4. Strange Plumbing: The Diamond Pipeline; 5. Angola: Another Distracting Sideshow; 6. Liberia and the Love of Liberty; 7. Sierra Leone: Diamonds in the RUF; 8. President Mobutu’s Ghost; 9. Enter al Qaeda; 10. Boiling Frogs: Companies in Hot Water; 11. Ice Storm: The NGO Campaign; 12. Kimberley: A Hope In Hell; 13. Endgames; Epilogue; Bibliography

'A masterly account of the dark side of the diamond trade. Smillie's scalpel has cut very deep.' —Matthew Hart, author of 'Diamond: the history of a cold-blooded love affair'