Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Stones of Contention

  • A History of Africa's Diamonds (Ohio Africa in World History)
  • By: Todd Cleveland
  • Narrated by: Caleb Rector
  • Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Stones of Contention cover art

Stones of Contention

By: Todd Cleveland
Narrated by: Caleb Rector
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Figure of the Migrant cover art
The Gilded Age cover art
Bound Together cover art
The Origins of Capitalism and the "Rise of the West" cover art
Undocumented cover art
We Sell Drugs cover art
Dark Commerce cover art
Red Meat Republic cover art
Slavery's Capitalism cover art
Economic Gangsters cover art
Latin Lessons cover art
The Transatlantic Slave Trade: The History and Legacy of the System that Brought Slaves to the New World cover art
Humanizing the Economy cover art
Late Victorian Holocausts cover art
Russia Without Putin cover art
Why Nations Fail cover art

Summary

Africa supplies the majority of the world's diamonds, yet consumers generally know little about the origins and history of these precious stones beyond sensationalized media accounts of so-called blood diamonds.

Stones of Contention explores the major developments in the remarkable history of Africa's diamonds, from the first stirrings of international interest in the continent's mineral wealth in the first millennium A.D. to the present day. In the European colonial period, the discovery of diamonds in South Africa ushered in an era of unprecedented greed during which monopolistic enterprises exploited both the mineral resources and the indigenous workforce. In the aftermath of World War II, the governments of newly independent African states, both democratic and despotic, joined industry giant De Beers and other corporations to oversee and profit from mining activity on the continent.

The book also considers the experiences of a wide array of Africans - from informal artisanal miners, company mineworkers, and indigenous authorities to armed rebels, mining executives, and premiers of mineral-rich states - and their relationships to the stones that have the power to bring both wealth and misery.

The book is published by Ohio University Press.

©2014 Ohio University Center for International Studies (P)2015 Redwood Audiobooks
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"Cleveland's vivid and concise prose brings to life the tragedies suffered by miners and how despots accrued their bloody wealth." ( Foreword Reviews)
"Cleveland renders a sweeping look at colonists, industry titans, despots, and everyday mires in this look at the local and global context of what have come to be known as blood diamonds." ( Booklist)

What listeners say about Stones of Contention

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.