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  • Blood Diamonds

  • Tracing the Deadly Path of the World's Most Precious Stones
  • By: Greg Campbell
  • Narrated by: Tom Weiner
  • Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (20 ratings)
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Blood Diamonds cover art

Blood Diamonds

By: Greg Campbell
Narrated by: Tom Weiner
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Summary

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 rings and necklaces of brides the world over.

Blood Diamonds is the gripping story of how diamond smuggling works, how the rebel war has effectively destroyed Sierra Leone and its people, and how the policies of the diamond industry, institutionalized in the 1880s by the De Beers cartel, have allowed it to happen. Award-winning journalist Greg Campbell traces the deadly trail of these diamonds and the repercussions felt far beyond the poor and war-ridden country of Sierra Leone.

©2002 Greg Campbell (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"A vivid, hair-raising tale of brutal proportions that outdistances any fictional tale of derring-do." ( Washington Times)
"This is an important, gut-wrenching story, one still unfolding in the wake of the war and September 2001." ( San Francisco Chronicle)
"Mr. Campbell tells this complex tale from a personal, feet-on-the-ground perspective....He reminds us that there is no longer any such thing as an isolated conflict that governments and corporations can ignore with impunity." ( New York Times)

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

An interesting story but awful narration

A facsinating background into Sierra Leone which was spoiled by the awful narration and accent.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Clear, concise, old school reportage

Campbell does a fine job of narrative reporting here to uncover and trace the dark and bloody connections between a precious commodity that has come to represent love and the hideous reality of the process which often occurs to obtain it.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Blood Diamonds & Rough Narration

This book is an earnest narrative let down by terrible narration. The narrators mispronunciation and dreadful attempts at accents , which i presume are meant to be Sierra Leoneans speaking English, are laughable at best and cringeworthy at worst. Surely as a bare minimum and indeed as a matter of professional pride both the producers and the narrator of this book should have checked up on the basics i.e how to pronounce words that you are unfamiliar with.This standard practice for anyone involved in recording or broadcasting.



The book is at times offers up gruesome examples that anyone familiar with the details of the 11 year civil war in Sierra Leone will be familiar with: terrorised civilian populations , sexual violence , amputations, gross infringements of human and humanitarian rights, political & military corruption. The trouble is that wrong person was chosen to deliver the story. In the end i became so irritated with Mr Weiner's delivery that i gave up listening to the audio book.and ended up watching the Hollywood version of it on DVD.The only thing that i remember of that experience was that the film had Leonardo Di Caprio and Djimon Honsu in it.When i'd decided to give up on the audio book a friend asked me what i'd thought of my experience.I told her that if humans could read bar codes i wouldn't trust the narrator of this book not to mess up reading them out.



The book is of note in that it brings to us an examination of terror and brutality that those of us sitting in our quiet corners of the world are blessed not to experience or bear witness to.So read it but just be aware that there'll be times when it will sound as though Benny Hill has returned to take over the narration.

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4 people found this helpful