Favorite book on the diamond trade

[Pair0Ducks]

Was wondering if people had some books they enjoyed about the diamond trade and the DeBeers cartel. I have such a love/hate relationship with the idea of DeBeers that it would make for fascinating reading.

How about two categories:
Most entertaining
Most up-to-date

 

[valeria101]

Nope

and if one would be written, there already is more to the diamond market than DeBeers, for better or for worse.

There are a couple of business cases circulating about them and Leonid has managed to find a rather entertaining but not very up-to-date online document (about 100 pages, I think) on the topic. You might want to dig among his older posts...

 

[verticalhorizon]

I would also be interested in the sociological/historical perpective, a la Fast Food Nation, Credit Card Nation, etc.

 

[Nicrez]

Well, it's not specifically about DeBeers, but it sure gives a great history of the Diamond! I read it and loved it!

Diamond: The History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair by Matthew Hart

Order the E-Book

Order the softcover book

Also, on that page there is a book The Last Empire: DeBeers, Diamonds, and the World by Stefan Kanfer, which may better fit your description.

 

[Hest88]

My favorite, and a fun, fast-paced read, is "The Last Empire" by Stefan Kanfer. It goes into the entire history of diamond mining in South Africa, including all the fascinating early characters, through De Beers into the early 90s. I really wish he'd update the book because I think it's the best historical book on the subject I've read. Next on my list is "Diamonds" by Matthew Hart, which is a newer book, but I've heard it's not quite as good.

 

[CaptAubrey]

assuming you have $500 you don't need, you won't find a more informative book than this one:




http://www.diamondintelligence.com/MineToMistress.asp

 

[niceice]

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On 4/30/2004 5:48:46 PM CaptAubrey wrote:


assuming you have $500 you don't need, you won't find a more informative book than this one:


http://www.diamondintelligence.com/MineToMistress.asp
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We'll second that, painful bill, but worth the read.