Blood on the Stone
Greed, Corruption and War in the Global Diamond Trade
A gripping account of the cartel, warlords, gun runners and shadowy traders who populated Africa's bloody diamond wars, and the faltering, decade-long effort to clean up an entire industry.
Imprint: Anthem Press
ISBN 9780857289636 Paperback
(also available in Hardback)
August 2010
| 252 Pages
| 216 x 140mm / 8.5 x 5.5
| PRICE: £16.99 / $29.95 |  |
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About This Book
'Required reading for anyone who still believes the diamond trade is only about love, honor and trust. A devastating, important work. Read this before you buy another diamond.' Greg Campbell, co-author of 'Flawless: Inside the World's Largest Diamond Heist'
'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'
'Very high-octaneby far the most interesting and illuminating account of the blood diamond campaign.' Dr Lansana Gberie, author of 'A Dirty War in West Africa'
Africa's diamond wars took four million lives. They destroyed the lives of millions more and they crippled the economies of Angola, the Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The biggest UN peacekeeping forces in the world — in Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Congo and Côte d’Ivoire ― are the legacy of 'conflict' or 'blood diamonds'.
‘The book’s strengths are threefold. The first is that it explains the murky trade in rough diamonds in crisp, compelling prose. […] The second strength is that Smillie’s writing on Sierra Leone is excellent. It is one of the best summaries of that country’s civil war and how diamonds bankrolled the RUF. […] Third is that he offers memorable observations on the difficulties in launching the Kimberley Process.’ –‘No One’s Best Friend: A Canadian expert examines the devastation diamonds have wrought in four African countries’, book review by Blake Lambert in the ‘Literary Review of Canada’
'Blood on the Stone' tells the story of how diamonds came to be so dangerous. It describes the history of the great diamond cartel and how it gradually lost control of the precious mineral, as country after country descended into anarchy and wars fuelled by diamonds. The book describes the diamond pipeline, from war-torn Africa to the glittering showrooms of Paris, London and New York. It describes the campaign that began in 1999 and which eventually forced the industry and more than 50 governments to create a global certification system known as the Kimberley Process, aimed at wringing blood diamonds out of the retail trade. This gripping account concludes with a sobering assessment of the certification system, which soon became hostage to political chicanery, mismanagement and vested interests. Too important to fail, the Kimberley Process has been hailed as a regulatory model for Africa's extractive minerals. Behind the scenes, however, it runs the risk of becoming an ineffectual talk shop, standing aside as criminals re-infest the diamond world.
Readership:
An educated general readership interested in conflict diamonds, modern African history and the diamond trade; students and scholars of African history, conflict prevention, corporate social responsibility and the role of extractives in international development; NGOs with interests in Africa and campaigning; the diamond industry; governments concerned with similar issues; other extractive industries.
Author Information
Ian Smillie has lived and worked in Africa and Asia as a teacher, consultant, investigator and writer. For the past ten years his career has focused on blood diamonds, the wars they fuelled and a scheme designed to stop them. This has taken him from the jungles of West Africa to the backstreets of Antwerp and a war crimes tribunal in The Hague, where he was the first witness in the trial of Liberian warlord Charles Taylor.
Table of Contents
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
Links
- Time Magazine
- New York Times
- ‘Everyone is lying’: Exposing the global diamond trade – book review by Brian K. Murphy on ‘Pambazuka News’
- BBC Article - Author Testimony of Taylor Trial
- The Independent
- Charles Taylor, Naomi Campbell and "blood diamonds" – Ian Smillie on Channel 4 News
- Out of Africa: Where the Trouble for Diamond Trade Is Now – Ian Smillie quoted in ‘The Atlantic’
- Diamonds are forever, but Liberia’s Taylor will have his day – feature interview with Ian Smillie in ‘The Globe and Mail’
- Diamantes de sangue – Ian Smillie in 'Correio Braziliense'
- Why We Still Need a Kimberley Process – Ian Smillie comment on 'Jewelers' Circular Keystone' Magazine
