First discovered in 1930, the diamonds of Sierra Leone have funded one of the most savage rebel campaigns in modern history. These "blood diamonds"...
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Aug 11, 2008
Otis
rated it: 
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 sell More...
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 sell More...
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Mar 15, 2009
Michel
rated it: 
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' tr
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' tr
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Jan 18, 2012
Harmonybites
rated it:
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
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Mar 14, 2011
Mqcarpenter
rated it: 
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,
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Jan 04, 2009
Kohl
rated it:
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 durin More...
I listened to this book, unabridged, and I think that was a wise choice. It allowed me to zone out durin More...
Oct 30, 2011
dee
rated it:
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 acquire More...
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 acquire More...
Jan 06, 2009
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 indu More...
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 indu More...
Jun 21, 2010
Jason
rated it:
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 start More...
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 start More...
Jun 02, 2009
Greg
rated it:
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
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Jun 03, 2010
Ben
rated it:
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.
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Dec 29, 2011
Kim
rated it:
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
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Nov 27, 2011
Nancy
rated it:
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 More...
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 More...
Oct 22, 2011
Beth
rated it:
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.
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Oct 04, 2011
Daniela
rated it: 
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 wa More...
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 wa More...
Dec 03, 2010
Courtney
rated it:
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 s More...
I wish there were half-star options! I would have given this book 2 1/2 stars if I could. The s More...
Mar 26, 2010
Kim
rated it:
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
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Jul 25, 2009
ebnewberry
rated it:
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
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Jun 08, 2010
M
rated it:
" 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 More...
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 More...
Apr 08, 2008
Renee
rated it:
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 More...
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 More...
Sep 13, 2007
Kim
rated it:
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 n More...
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 n More...
Jun 08, 2009
Simon
rated it:
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
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Nov 29, 2010
Terry
rated it:
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.
Jun 22, 2009
Allison
rated it:
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.
Jun 24, 2007
Kyle
rated it:
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 incredibl
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Oct 10, 2009
Ann
rated it:
I was afraid this would be too hard to read--and at times it was difficult to read about the horrible things that people do to each other in the name of something so silly as diamonds. But overall this was a fascinating story of the diamond trade and of Africa. Well worth reading and really important.
Feb 01, 2009
Shannon
rated it:
This is an important book. It's necessarily graphic. Campbell describes the exploitation of Africa's resources (by domestic and foreign groups) and the atrocities that result from it. Conflict diamonds have fueled gruesome wars in several African countries. Campbell discusses De Beers', one of the world's largest diamond producers (they adopted the slogan, A diamond is forever), willingness to look the other way as military and guerrilla groups use fear and torture to seek out diamond sources, f
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Nov 12, 2007
jeanne-marie
rated it:
There have been quite a few books that highlight the utter monstrosity that is the diamond industry, but few have such excellent stories and writing to back them up. Most people, I think, are aware that the demand for diamonds is sheer market manipulation. Diamonds are not rare, they do not appreciate in value, and the value is derived from a sort of cultural hypnosis that has been manipulated by the rather brilliant marketers employed by De Beers and others. They put the tobacco marketers to sh
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Jun 11, 2010
Ryan
rated it:
A lot of mayhem (which my criminal law professor defined as "cutting peoples arms off and shit") has gone on in Sierra Leone because of diamonds. I'm now interested in seeing the movie that the book inspired. This is one of those books that makes you so happy to live in a relatively safe and stable place.
It was a good and quick read.
It was a good and quick read.
Dec 01, 2010
Eric
rated it:
This was a decent book and it was really interesting to find out some of the horrible things that go on just to get ahold of diamonds...my future wife is not getting one!....Africa is a very complicated place! Lot's of bad things happen there and you never hear about them living in America. I might have to read some more books on going ons in Africa.
