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 the read as a case study in how things can go so terribly wrong in an African country when money can be made.

I've noticed that some other reviewers have advocated boycotting the diamond trade altogether in response to the horrors of conflict diamonds. This was my gut reaction when reading this book.

However it is important to note that other stable developing countries both in Africa and around the world depend on the diamond trade. A particular example that springs to mind is Botswana, a democratic southern African country dependant on diamond exports for its continued development.

For the sake of developing countries dependant on the diamond trade, I would be cautious about an all out boycott of diamonds. I better solution I think (although Campbell does point out its shortcomings) is to demand greater transparency in the diamond trade. An international system of tracking where diamonds come from would allow the trade to continue while preventing the sale of conflict diamonds.