Rating: 
Summary: A Compelling Narrative with Its Flaws
Review: Campbell writes compelling narrative with a fascinating array of characters - corrupt dictators, warlords, mercenaries, peacekeepers, child soldiers, missionaries, shady Middle Eastern merchants, diamond buyers, jewelers, diplomats, et al. - weaving in the tragedy that the pursuit of instant riches in the alluvial diamond fields of West Africa has wrought. The result is a modern morality tale about the scarce resources, globalization, and violence.The book, however, is flawed by its author's failure to properly situate his narrative within the historical and political context of subregional conflict involving Liberia and Sierra Leone. The reader would thus do well to supplement this volume with a good political narrative like Pham's LIBERIA: PORTRAIT OF A FAILED STATE (Reed Press) or Ellis's MASK OF ANARCHY (New York University Press) in order to get a complete picture.
Rating: 
Summary: Priorities
Review: Do we need a PR firm to boost the value of human life over a diamond? BLOOD DIAMONDS is an amazing book, filled with detail and stark commentary but , more than that, presenting a story of contemporary times in a small African country that most of us didn't know. I thought back to what was happening in my life in 1999 and 2000. I knew a home health aide from Sierra Leone who told me her country was in a civil war, that her relatives could not come or go and that she sent them whatever she could. Blood Diamonds' author Greg Campbell fills in the awful details of her story. We are working on becoming the small world and community some would like to be. Could we contribute by shutting down the Sierra Leone mines, buying their mangoes instead and letting the people there really go to the beach in a place called FREETOWN? What a well-written story; it should touch your heart and soul.
Rating:
Summary: Exposes the integral role diamonds played in the war
Review: For over ten years Sierra Leone was devastated by civil war, but nothing contributed to its downfall more than the diamond, which funded rebel groups, served as the foundation for attacks and bloodshed, and destroyed the lives of its people. Blood Diamonds exposes the integral role diamonds played in the process of war in the country, creating an eye-opening story of bloodshed in the name of wealth.
Rating:
Summary: Very good and informative
Review: Good book that will open your eyes to what is going on in the diamond buissness. Sad what the news in the United States DOSENT report. Very easy to read with lots of background information and questions that one should ask themselves. I will never look at my wifes wedding rings the same. Its a shame jewels cause so much pain and murder. Good book and hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Very good and informative
Review: Good book that will open your eyes to what is going on in the diamond buissness. Sad what the news in the United States DOSENT report. Very easy to read with lots of background information and questions that one should ask themselves. I will never look at my wifes wedding rings the same. Its a shame jewels cause so much pain and murder. Good book and hard to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Never cared for diamonds, now I have a REAL REASON for it
Review: I have always questioned the materialism of friends and family after years and years of seeing DeBeers on Tv, magazines, and newspapers senselessly pounding their marketing into my head. I've never been one to go along with the crowd, and I've met some Sierra Leonians and heard their stories of how they'd escaped. I quote this book whenever someone asks me about the jewelry I wear--the ever-present, "Oh, BUT YOU don't have any diamonds." I refuse to give up my political beliefs (enormously illustrated in this book, take a hint Family and Friends!) in order to wear a shiny piece of carbon. A diamond is forever? So is death, mutilation, bloodshed, and amputation. Mr. Campbell, you've done the entire Western world a great service by exposing all in this book. This is a pulverizing read, impossible to put down. You will never look at the words "engagement ring" and feel the same ever after reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Just don't know about Amazon.com
Review: I haven't read the book yet but just got really upset reading this review page and had to post something. After spending an hour online reading all I could find about "blood diamonds," coming here, reading all the reviews about this book, and resolving to buy it and read it immediately, I scrolled down the page and found myself looking at Amazon's recommendation for another product I might like to buy: a 14k 1-carat 3-stone princess diamond wedding band for $1399.00, specifically, which was recommended by Amazon and their affiliates. I recognize that these recommendations are probably randomly generated and that it was merely unfortunate luck that that product showed up on this page. However, it made me feel sick, after reading so much about the high human cost of diamonds and the inflated prices passed along to blind and willing consumers in this country. If Amazon is going to stock books that encourage people to think twice about what they're willing to spend their money on, then I think it would also be appropriate for them to be careful about what products they're recommending and whether there's a conflict of interest there. I'm definitely buying this book, but I won't get it here. It just made me feel too sick to read all about the horrors of the diamond trade and then scroll down the page only to be exhorted to leave my conscience at the door and buy myself a big fat diamond.
Rating:
Summary: Diamonds are not a girl's best friend....
Review: I lived in Sierra Leone for quite a number of years and hence had the opportunity to experience what it was like to live sorrounded by poverty and diamonds (the Kono area). Unfortunately for me and my family, security reasons forced us to leave the country in the nineties.
Nowadays I live in Madrid, Spain. I'm a doctoral student and my research area is the diamond industry of Sierra Leone and its implications on the underdevelopment of Sierra Leone.
Mr. campbell's book has been very valuable to me because of the information it contains (for my disertation) and because it has sadly/happily brought me back to the country that I love most in the world.
Thank you Mr Campbell!
I strongly recommend the reading of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite what I expected, but worth the read
Review: I read 'Blood Diamonds' in hopes of putting a more human face on the Sierra Leone conflict which is often covered from the perspective of governments fighting rebels with little room for the on-the-ground effects the conflict has had on the people of Sierra Leone. To some extent Campbell has shown the effects of the conflict but in the same way that most other popular media has chosen; focus is on the amputees and baby-killing rebels. In otherwords, what will sell. Perhaps it was unwise to search for an anthropological perspective in a popular book such as this, but the trite recollections of amputation and murder that comprise the opening chapter and several other sections was disappointing. On a positive note, Campbell provides a short and easy to comprehend history of the conflict that is useful for people unfamiliar with the events surrounding the RUF invasion of Sierra Leone and the resulting conflicts. Campbell also does a good job of demonstrating the complexity of the diamond export/import industry and the central role DeBeers has played (There are, however, more indepth books on the subject of DeBeers and the diamond industry). Unfortunately, Campbell makes use of the sort of broad generalizations and stereotypes that so often rob popular media of its legitimacy in foreign affairs such as this. Lines such as "Any visit to an African village requires the blessing of the local chief" (5) are little more than western or eurocentric stereotypes that further alienate the African populations and their struggles from 'western' readers. A book to be read carefully and cautiously if one is just becoming familiar with the diamond conflict in Sierra Leone.
Rating: 
Summary: AUTHOR'S INAPTITUDE EVIDENT ON EVERY PAGE
Review: I'd anxiously awaited the arrival of this book, but after two weeks of trying to get through it, I simply couldn't... not because the subject matter was too real, but because its reality was obfuscated by the author's INCREDIBLY BAD writing. Don't believe me? I don't blame you. You've probably read the same charitable reviews that I have. But forget those reviews and read a sampling of Mr. Campbell's style: "In fact, the two men are Mutt-and-Jeff diamond smugglers: Singer has the connections and does the talking; Valdy is the money man."(pg.37)... I'm sorry. I didn't realize I'd just stepped into an old episode of Dragnet. Oh, but there's more. Check out this pathetic attempt at a simile: "We headed into the night, the sound of UN helicopters carried to us on the ocean breeze that moved the leaves overhead like bored hand-waving from a local parade." (pg.47)... Maybe I'm just lazy, but I don't enjoy having to edit the books I read in order to understand them. If you're similarly minded; I strongly suggest that if you want to learn anything about blood diamonds you look to some other source. The only positive thing I can say about Mr. Campbell's version is that it increased my sympathy for the exploited people about whom he writes. How unfortunate they are to have to rely on Mr. Campbell as an advocate.
| 
