Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World's Most Precious Stones

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World's Most Precious Stones

by Greg Campbell (Goodreads Author)

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 582 ratings · 100 reviews

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...more

Paperback, 280 pages

Published February 5th 2004 by Basic Books (first published 2002)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Africa

137th out of 655 books — 500 voters

Best on Sierra Leone

7th out of 9 books — 4 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,046)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Aug 11, 2008 Otis Chandler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: africa, nonfiction

I learned a lot about an area of the world I knew very little. The book was a journalistic nonfiction account of Sierra Leone, as opposed to the fictional movie (which I also enjoyed).

Key takeaways:
- Human beings can be pretty indecent to each other when the economic incentives are right, and when there are no checks on those in charge. The RUF murdered and mutilated thousands.
- There is *no* way to verify a diamond is not a conflict diamond. No matter what a diamond seller says, stones are untr...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 15, 2009 Michel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: cultures, pol

Possibly inspired by Ian Fleming's "Diamond Smugglers"?
One book I dreaded to read, and with good cause, as it turned out.
Not the book itself, it's pretty well written, but who wants to know the diamond you bought your wife has cost so much: slave labor, mutilations, murders, children soldiers…?
That's what we do to the 'third world': we give 'aid' to dictators, mostly military by the way, and insist on 'free' trade. The world won't be safe until we switch to 'fair' trade.

4 likes · like · see review

May 11, 2013 Antony Fitzpatrick rated it 5 of 5 stars

A superb piece of investigative journalism, and it's not often Im complimentary about journalists.

It's horrifying to see how a country that should by all right be one of the richest on the continent is actually one of the poorest in the world. Whilst it's mineral wealth is leached away the people have been made to suffer in ways we can't begin to comprehend.

The book though is very well written. It gives a clear concise history on the discovery of diamonds in Sierra Leone and the initial ways o...more

like · see review

Mar 22, 2013 Paula rated it 1 of 5 stars

Almost good coverage of the conflicts in Sierra Leone ruined by uber liberal left wing reporter who Monday morning quarterbacks every solution to every problem with a nike-esque "AMERICA should just do it" rationalization- in the face of all of his own very compelling arguments as to why it would be almost impossible- that I am sorry his typing hands weren't severed along with the thousands of natives.

There's nothing more offensive to me than someone who shows up in a war torn infrastructure-le...more Almost good coverage of the conflicts in Sierra Leone ruined by uber liberal left wing reporter who Monday morning quarterbacks every solution to every problem with a nike-esque "AMERICA should just do it" rationalization- in the face of all of his own very compelling arguments as to why it would be almost impossible- that I am sorry his typing hands weren't severed along with the thousands of natives.

There's nothing more offensive to me than someone who shows up in a war torn infrastructure-less jungle who spends the first third of his book explaining why it was impossible for the locals, natives, a UN peacekeeping force-really any force- to solve even the most rudimentary problem in this war torn land despite more international resources spent on it that in any other conflict IN THE HISTORY OF THE UN- because- as the author illustrates- the country is all jungle trails and even the rebels cant blast through it with AK 47s- And really they are just Children who shouldn't be shot just because they are rapacious sociopathic mutilators. These kids make Dahmer look like Paula Dean.

In light of all this- the author spends the last 3rd of the book telling me it is America's obligation to fix it and that we are stupid for not doing it. DAYS AFTER 9-11- the American govt didn't do the right thing because there are some tenuous ties to al Quieda money laundering and the diamond trade in this country that ending Sierra Leone's 80 years of barbarism (that no one in the world closer to them gave a shit about)the day after 9-11 should have been the top priority of the American people. I should send MY SON into this jungle mess because some unnamed jackass "analyst" no one has ever heard of says we could have handled it in 12 days- OH yeah Mr. Campbell?

And how long after that would you have expected us to stay and invest our service people's lives, American GDP, and other resources we don't have to spare? CUz if we don't flame it down to a parking lot- how do you expect democracy to take hold- fair elections to be run, the fighters, the mutilators the terrorists running rampant over the countryside are adolescents! We're gonna turn them into sweet students who listen to their mommies and behave accordingly? What, they're gonna turn around on day 10 to deliver newspapers to save up for three years to buy a bike instead of picking up a gun and ax to terrorize an entire village into digging up diamonds by using bayonets to carve unborn children out of their mother's bellies and boiling children over a fire if they refuse to shoot their own mother's? WTF? 12 days?

You are smarter than that. How dare you. How stupid do you think we are? I got news for you, we could blow the place to pieces and pave the bitch over in a week, we don't need 12 days. What we can not do it instill humanity into monsters in less than a fortnight. Could we provide a personal escort and a counselor for every kid in the country and a prosthetic for every one of the millions of limbs that have been amputated.. We cant do that here. We should send our service men into an unknown jungle to fix this mess half way around the world?- oh, and we're pussies because some dick days we could do it in 12 days and we don't. We could kill everyone in Sierra leone in 12 days- but if you want to turn an entire generation of genocidal diamond thieving hand-chopping off animals into humans in a country with no educational system, no infrastructure no medical care, no psychiatric services, no government and no democracy into a real country- and we're supposed to drop everything to do it because there might be some financial tie between terrorist financing and blood diamonds? Yeah, and lets nuke Switzerland while we're at it, because there is a link between their banks and terrorism too.

You want us to go in, and not kill the bad guys, because they are just kids- even though they are carrying AK47s and have name like Queen CHOP HANDS- and the American military should go in to "save these "children"? Then who is the enemy we will defeat in 12 days?

HOW DARE YO INSULT MY INTELLEGENCE OR HUMANITY with your paper thin justifications to villanize me for not handing the world the solution to another regional genocide paid for with the lives of the children we struggle to raise in this country. To lay it on my doorstep because of 9-11 is disgusting. ITS NOT MY FUCKING JOB- it is not my son's job and frankly not one American life should be shed in Campbells ridiculous attempt to coddle the children with axes bent on amputation to scare the local tribes into slavery out of a jungle full of the most heinously vicious people I've ever heard of.

So yeah. Im annoyed. He's disgusting- the whole whiny little selfish bitch story - I wish I could have helped, but there was nothing I could do, I just paid for my flight to Africa and my flat back home and only had enough cipro for myself, but America should straighten this out but those selfish American millionaires and too busy war mongering and buying their girlfriends diamonds- like we all sit around with our monocles and fainting salts while our servants prepare tea on silver platters- I got news for you Campbell- We have our own violent children, medical deficiencies and economic problems. Half my friends cant afford to vacation for 4 days on the jersey shore-Shove your international flight ticket and holier than thou attitude up your stodgy self righteous do-nothing-but-but place- blame-on-the-wrong-people-ass. (less)

like · see review

Jan 18, 2012 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

Shelves: crime, non-fiction, ultimate-reading-list, 2012-around-the-world, political, science, history

The subtitle to this one is "tracing the deadly path of the world's most precious stones." The author is a journalist and much of what he reports is first hand based on interviews from everyone involved in this illicit part of the diamond industry from miners to the middlemen to smugglers to spokesmen for the De Beers diamond cartel. The "blood diamonds" of the title are also known as "conflict diamonds" because they are diamonds mined in Africa by forced labor and then sold to fund insurgencies...more The subtitle to this one is "tracing the deadly path of the world's most precious stones." The author is a journalist and much of what he reports is first hand based on interviews from everyone involved in this illicit part of the diamond industry from miners to the middlemen to smugglers to spokesmen for the De Beers diamond cartel. The "blood diamonds" of the title are also known as "conflict diamonds" because they are diamonds mined in Africa by forced labor and then sold to fund insurgencies. Diamonds that are then smuggled to the West where they make up five percent of the market and wind up on many a finger as engagement rings.

The book primarily focuses upon how blood diamonds destroyed Sierra Leone, a "tiny corner of West Africa." Bordering on Liberia, where many of the diamonds wind up before being smuggled West, like Liberia, Sierra Leone was founded by freed North American slaves. Many of the middlemen are Lebanese, the "largest cutting and polishing centers in the world are in Bombay and Surat India," 80 percent of the blood diamonds wind up in America and the diamonds not only financed misery in Africa, but played a major role in money laundering for Al Queda. So this story has a wide international scope beyond that of a small nation of five million.

The book claimed blood diamonds were responsible for the "death of some 3.7 million people in various African war zones and displaced another 6 million." Campbell opens the book by telling the story of Ismael Dalramy, who had both hands chopped off by members of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) who were fighting for control of the Sierra Leone diamond mines; their "signature war crime was amputation." It was a brutal but arresting way to begin the book. A lot of this story is convoluted and complex, and the statistics of the misery involved so staggering I think it was important to anchor it in this kind of individual experience.

There are a lot of intertwined stories in this book. For instance, the story of Executive Outcomes, a private army hired at one point by the President Strasser of Sierra Leone that seemed to be making progress in stopping the slaughter--but Strasser cancelled their contract under international pressure against "mercenaries" and instead the fight was taken up by the Nigerian-led ECOMOG troops. "It appeared the developed countries were willing to put Sierra Leone's rescue in the hands of a less effective security force--one that was prone to flagrant corruption, bribery, savagery, and a disdain for human rights--just because it was quasi-governmental." The result was a "human rights disaster" that led to more slaughter. The book also tells the story of Cecil Rhodes and the company he founded--the powerful De Beers corporation which at the time of publication controlled 65 percent of the diamond market.

At the time of the book's publication, the civil war had been declared over, and Sierra Leone had successfully completed elections. It was good to later look into what happened to Sierra Leone and find out it seems to have developed into a functioning democracy. But what you take away from the book about blood diamonds is more problematical. It seems there's no way of getting at the problem from the supply side. The diamond industry has considered several ways, but the bottom line is that there's no way to know the source of a diamond--and our experience with the War on Drugs shows just how impossible it is to control smuggling and illegal trade. At the same time, calling for a boycott of diamonds--trying to tackle it from the demand side--would hurt Africa more than it would help. According to Campbell, the legitimate diamond industry has been a boon to the economic growth of Namibia, South Africa and Botswana--and could be for the recovering Sierra Leone. In fact, Campbell hoped De Beers will take part--he claimed that it had a good record educating and training workers--something that's badly needed. For Campbell, the only solution to the quandary of "conflict diamonds" is to end the conflicts themselves--and with it the raison d'etre of blood diamonds.

I thought it an interesting book, and I did learn quite a bit about Western Africa and the diamond industry, although the book misses being a standout. Something about the structure didn't flow well, and I didn't feel I ended the book with much insight into what drives the conflicts in Africa that drives the conflict diamonds. And I've seen the stories of Executive Orders and De Beers done more compellingly elsewhere.(less)

like · see review

Mar 14, 2011 Mqcarpenter rated it 5 of 5 stars

Yes this is the book that the recent movie was based on. No I have not seen the movie. The author is a journalist, and it shows. The depth of research and detail in this book is amazing. It outlines in many layers the diamond industry, its history, and its relation to West Africa. I had no idea what to expect from the book, and was shocked to learn the horrid details and atrocities that have been occurring for decades there. Obviously, like the bumper sticker says, "if you are not appalled, you...more Yes this is the book that the recent movie was based on. No I have not seen the movie. The author is a journalist, and it shows. The depth of research and detail in this book is amazing. It outlines in many layers the diamond industry, its history, and its relation to West Africa. I had no idea what to expect from the book, and was shocked to learn the horrid details and atrocities that have been occurring for decades there. Obviously, like the bumper sticker says, "if you are not appalled, you are not paying attention."

The Western world has no idea what people are suffering for this made up commodity industry. Campbell shows how elite people literally fabricate the demand for diamonds, and its price points. Everyone seems to believe that diamonds are the most precious thing you can give a loved one. Why is that? Have you ever wondered? Why is it better than any other gem or gift? The answers are very interesting, and are laid out in this book.

When you learn the origins of many diamonds, the process they go through and the conditions of the people who mine them, you may want to return it. I know I do. It made me sick. We live in quite a bubble about so many things. I am glad that someone is bringing a conscience to the public about horrible human rights situations like these. The sad thing is that it also makes you wonder why countries like our own are just ignoring it. If we can justify attacking other countries for made up reasons, why can't we take on true issues that are so well documented? It is all politics while people die.

This book is one of the best written books I have read in a long time. Campbell's writing style is intelligent, vivid, and picturesque. His depth of research and personal involvement in making this book is astonishing. I appreciate descriptions that make me feel like I am actually with the writer. Such is the case with Blood Diamonds. An excellent read if you can handle its gruesome reality and deep network of connections to follow(less)

like · see review

Jan 04, 2009 Kohl Gill rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone thinking of buying a diamond

Shelves: listened, audible

Fascinating. BD is one that I've always dreaded reading, because it seemed like taking medicine. It's not nearly that bad. The account is moving and the analysis of solutions to the blood-diamond issue is thorough. The middle chapters do drag a bit as the stories of warlords and coups all tend to run together. I recommend having ready access to a world map while reading this.

I listened to this book, unabridged, and I think that was a wise choice. It allowed me to zone out during the repetitive b...more

like · see review

Oct 30, 2011 dee rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Political junkies and gemstone enthusiasts

Recommended to dee by: I found it by looking up the movie.

Shelves: audio, non-fiction

One word, gripping. Two words, eye-opening. Three words, Diamonds are Forever.

This is a gut-twisting, scrunch your eyes closed and say Oh my God story! Like all wars the innocent are the ones that seem to pay the highest price. This story continues to unfold in the wake of the war and September 2001. My daughter and I like gemstones and it was through her and a discussion we had that made me want to know more about the most precious gemstone, the diamond and how they are acquired. I always knew...more

like · see review

Jan 06, 2009 Kathleen Hagen added it

Shelves: 2008-audio-books, 2008-nonfiction

Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Path of the World’s Most Precious Stones, by Gregg Campbell. Read by Tom Weiner, produced by Blackstone, downloaded from audible.com.

Publisher’s note:
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 diamond...more

like · see review

Jun 21, 2010 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars

Having just finished "A Long Way Gone" I found this book very intriguing. I'd seen the movie by the same name years ago but never knew there was a full non-fiction work addressing these issues.

If this material were covered by any less of a writer it could have had the potential of being extremely dry. However, Campbell does an excellent job of sharing edge-of-your-seat stories about the horrific things done by the R.U.F. (Revolutionary United Front), engaging you with startling statistics, and t...more

like · see review

Jun 02, 2009 Greg rated it 5 of 5 stars

Books that permanently change your way of looking at things are in short supply, but this was a book that did that for me. I'll never see another huge diamond on someone's finger (or in an ear) without thinking of the amputations, atrocities, and child exploitation generated by the lust for diamonds. The buying of ruthless armies through the mining and sale of 'conflict diamonds' is at the center of decades of blood and horror in western Africa. There are strong links to funding of Hezbollah and...more

like · see review

Jun 03, 2010 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, read-in-2010, darkness, important-message, war

How? HOW do these things happen? And keep happening for years? As if the common cutting of limbs, the raping, the murders of children, is all par for the course. Par for the course all right. Play your round of golf; complain about having too much laundry to do; bitch about how soggy your fucking french fries are. These kids, kid killers, they’d get drugged-up, snorting mad-uppers -- ten, eleven, twelve year-old boys -- killing babies, murdering their own families, not even knowing why.

WHY?

Ther...more

33 likes · like · see review

Dec 29, 2011 Kim Heimbuch rated it 4 of 5 stars

What an absolutely compelling story that Greg Campbell took initiative and drive to tell. It disgusts me that his journey led him to witness the destruction of a country and the mutilations and murders of innocent countrymen. The Western world succeeds in keeping these horrific acts out of the mainstream media when instead it should showing these topics daily bringing awareness to those who are unaware and uninformed. It amazes me how business people in the United States, and other 1st world cou...more

like · see review

Nov 27, 2011 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a very tough and emotional read for me. Having lived and worked in Sierra Leone for two years, and traveled throughout most of the country, I was very aware of the diamond region in the northeast area - there was much talk of the famous Star of Sierra Leone diamond found in 1972.

As I read this book I began to recognize places where I had been, most sadly a hospital I had been treated at for conjunctivitis in the eastern part of the country - which had been destroyed and used as temporar...more

like · see review

Oct 22, 2011 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club-book

Very, very interesting history of the diamond mining business and the resulting political turmoil in Africa, particularly the war torn country of Sierra Leone. I had no idea that the deBeers corporation controls all the sales of the worlds uncut diamonds and has manipulated high prices by limiting circulation. I wonder how many diamonds are sitting untouched in a vault in London. Amazing that the demand for a stone that is not even very rare can have contributed to so much war and bloodshed.
Ver...more

like · see review

Oct 04, 2008 Kati rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008, non-fiction

I am never buying a diamond ever again. Ever.

Note: Contains graphic content, and language.

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 04, 2011 Daniela Castañeda rated it 2 of 5 stars

The topic of blood diamonds is obviously interesting and intriguing. I believe the movie filmed a few years ago was fantastic, so when I came accross this book at the store, I wanted to experience the story through writing.

The events and details are heartbreaking, and the situation feels overwhelmingly frustrating. The material is good, but I feel the writing was not the best. The story line was a plateau, all that was said was in the same tone and delivery mode. I soon felt like I was reading...more

like · see review

Dec 03, 2010 Courtney rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010, non-fiction, audiobooks

I find myself getting a little lost in Campell's narrative. Possibly not the best book to listen to, given that I find the need to go back and re-read passages so that I can understand the chronology of the story. A little heavy on repetitive details ("He wore a Mickey Mouse t-shirt with more holes than fabric" for example- very similar descriptions and phrases throughout the book).

I wish there were half-star options! I would have given this book 2 1/2 stars if I could. The subject matter is obv...more

like · see review

Mar 26, 2010 Kim rated it 2 of 5 stars

I went back and forth from liking some of this book to feeling bogged down in detail by other parts of it. Not being familiar with the geography didn't help either. The history of the diamond trade in general and in Sierra Leone in particular are interesting, and the ruthlessness of the various gov'ts/rebels is hard to even comprehend. I guess the logistics of the money transfers and amounts involved, althouogh necessary to make his point, made the story a little dry at times. I want Simon Winch...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 25, 2009 ebnewberry Newberry rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This book was difficult to read. There is the obvious reason that the inhumanity of war and greed is hard to imagine. The atrocities are unimaginable. The book itself was difficult to get through however. The author just never achieved that level of engagement that I needed to really get involved in the story. Much of it was a jumble of acronyms and statistics. I would have appreciated more of the anecdotal sections of the story, because those are the parts that make you really care about the co...more

like · see review

Oct 19, 2008 M rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to M by: Otis Chandler

Shelves: united-states

" Blood Diamond" is an eye-opening story to understand the sordid world of the origin of diamonds.
Some passages of the book are difficult, describing the bloody violence of the rebel forces and the recruitment of children as child-soldiers.
This book made me discover a situation that I knew a little. After reading this story , I'll NEVER buy any diamond.

First discovered in 1930, the diamonds of Sierra Leone have funded one of the most savage rebel campaigns in modern history."Blood Diamonds"...more

like · see review

Apr 08, 2008 Renee rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Those interested in Africa/Sierra Leone

Shelves: non-fiction, africa, politics

Blood Diamonds by Greg Campbell tells the story of how conflict diamonds have fuelled horrific conflicts in the war torn west African country of Sierra Leone.

Campbell veers between shocking personal accounts of the victims of the conflict and tedious passages detailing the ins and outs of the international diamond industry. There seems to be no end to the stories of innocent civilians who are mutilated and killed for the sake of overpriced pieces of carbon.

Overall, Blood Diamonds is well worth t...more

like · see review

Sep 13, 2007 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: any one who ever bought a diamond

Ok, I know there is a movie, but I didn't see it...I read the book.

I've always been suspicious of advertising and unbridled consumerism. For example, I don't buy cards because my research shows Hallmark and American Greetings basically brainwashed us into believing that somehow we are bad people if we don't recognize events/holidays with a card.

And after reading Blood Diamonds, I am grateful for that skepticism because I always scoffed at the notion of a diamond as a necessity for getting marri...more

like · see review

Apr 27, 2012 James rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: when-criminals-become-politicians

So so book, it has some interesting stories.
Too much of the book is about the author,
how brave he was to go there,
the hardships he suffered,
,
how if everyone was as clear-sighted as him,
there wouldn't be a problem, bla bla bla.

Just when you think people couldn't be any worse than you already know
you read about how cutting off hands, and sometimes feet,
was used as a political tactic.

ugh

Where was god?

1 like · like · see review

Jun 08, 2009 Simon Cleveland rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: war-atrocities

What? The title doesn't make sense? Did you know how many people suffered to get the diamond on your wife's or fiancé's hand? I don't either, but you can take a guess once you read this book. Come, take a ride to a place where children spend their last breaths in a ditch, sifting dirt and mud for the precious stones. Take a walk with the men that die in jungles while transporting this contraband to another country. Sit down with the monsters who butcher the pregnant women, who cut the arms of te...more

like · see review

Apr 28, 2012 Patrick Belair rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: africa, political, war-on-terror

This is a very disturbing book about a conflict far away that most people know little about, or don't care because it has no impact on them. Have clueless they are.The impact in this region will be felt for decades.Remember this the next time you go to the mall, And buy that small token of your love. Think about how many peoples lives have been destroyed.Big business is only concerned with the bottom line.Charles Taylor ex pres of liberia guilty! of war crimes. But someone will always be in line...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 29, 2010 Terry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: recommended

This is a very revealing book that exposes the evil brought about by anti-trust activities of deBeers and the world wide diamond trade. Because of highly inflated prices, and 80% of the demand from the US, millions die from the trafficking. Buying diamonds contributes to this disaster, regardless of the source. Nobody admits ton the use of Blood Diamonds! It is a sobering book and in highly recommend it.

like · see review

Jul 19, 2012 K.n. Listman rated it 3 of 5 stars

Want to know what foreign policy in USA, Russia and the oil producing Middle Eastern countries did to encourage genocide in Africa? The politics are complex and the book is gory at times, but it basically tries to steer clear of sensationalism. I had only a little idea of how the greed in developed nations affects the rest of the world until I read this.

like · see review

Jun 22, 2009 Allison rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very interesting book about the diamond industry in general and Sierra Leone in particular. Did not realize there there is only one company that controls all of rough diamonds (De Beers) and that no more than three of their executives can be in the US at one time because of US antitrust laws. There were actually a lot of eye openers for me in this book.

like · see review

Jun 24, 2007 Kyle rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who finds West Africa or the diamond trade interesting

Loved this book. It's about Sierra Leone and illegal diamond trading -- so-called Blood Diamonds or Conflist Diamonds. I am so fascinated by West African history and exploitation that I might never read a novel again! The whole idea of colonialism and imperialism and its effects are very interesting. I don't know, it just really makes you think. You start to see what happens when you put resources of a country before its people. And I've talked about it before, but I just find it incredible fasc...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 34 35 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (12)

More editions...

Genres

Non Fiction

50 users

History

25 users

Cultural > Africa

20 users

Politics

8 users

War

5 users

Mystery > Crime

3 users

Economics

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Greg Campbell

"Whether it means talking my way past teenage rebels guarding a jungle checkpoint or asking hard questions in corporate boardrooms, my goals are to get the story and to tell it better than anyone.

I've been a journalist since 1993, and my work has taken me from the anarchy of wartime Sarajevo to the ritzy offices of the Antwerp Diamond District. I've reported from Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Nige...more

More about Greg Campbell...

Books by Greg Campbell

Pot Inc.: Inside Medical Marijuana, America's Most Outlaw Industry

Diamants de sang. Trafic et guerre civile en Sierra Leone

The Joy of Jumping: A Complete Jump-Rope Program for Health, Looks, and Fun

Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Diamanti Di Sangu...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Blood Diamonds: Tracin...

“When giving money to the amputated, you must put it directly into their pockets.” — 3 people liked it

“An Ax was raised into the smoke filled sky while the surrounding soldiers pinned him down and stood on his hands. It took more than a dozen blows to sever each arm just below the elbows. The strangest sensation, he said, was that one minute he could feel his knuckles being ground into the asphalt by the soldier's boot and in the next he watched the man kick his arm away and he felt nothing.” — 1 person liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World's Most Precious Stones
avg rating	preview: Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World's Most Precious Stones Goodreads rating: 3.89 (582 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49226.Blood_Diamonds?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347690682l/49226.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49226.Blood_Diamonds?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World's Most Precious Stones by Greg Campbell[/url]

Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World's Most Precious Stones

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website