
Blood Diamonds
The Controversial History of Mining Operations in Africa That Subsidize Conflicts Across the Continent
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $6.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Colin Fluxman
About this listen
The commercial exploitation of Sierra Leonean diamonds began in the early 1930s, in the Kono District in the east of the country. The first discoveries had been made by a British-held concern called Consolidated African Selection Trust, or CAST, in which a British shareholder body, Selection Trust Limited, shared a significant interest with the diamond giant, De Beers. Transparency, of course, was not by any means absolute, but under British colonial oversight, the movement of diamonds out of the country was regulated and royalties channeled reasonably appropriately.
In the past, all diamond mining in Sierra Leone had fallen under the control of the Sierra Leone Selection Trust - or SLST - a private investor body with exclusive rights to mine diamonds in Sierra Leone. By the mid-1950s and 1960s, illegal and illicit mining had taken over large areas of production. Figures vary, but by the 1960s, one can assume a figure of upwards of 100,000 illegal miners, both domestic and foreign, were active in the Kono District. Armed groups began to appear, challenging private SLST security, eventually fermenting a situation of anarchy under which regulated and taxed diamond production diminished to a trickle.
Naturally, the corruption was at its most pervasive and creative surrounding diamonds. The industry was effectively criminalized, becoming the basis of a patrimonial shadow system geared toward sustaining wealth and power at its center. Distrustful of his own countrymen and tribal opponents, Stevens handed off much of the day-to-day business of diamonds to Lebanese businessmen who had been a somewhat anomalous presence in Sierra Leone since the end of the 19th century. From a peak of over two million carats officially exported in 1970, legitimate diamond exports dropped to 595,000 carats in 1980 and 48,000 carats in 1988.
©2017 Charles River Editors (P)2017 Charles River EditorsListeners also enjoyed...
-
Cold War: A Captivating Guide to the Korean War and Vietnam War
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The narrative of the Korean War in the West, and particularly in the United States, tells the tale of a conflict between two global superpowers and competing ideologies in a far-flung corner of the globe. The reality is that the wheels of motion that drove the country to war in 1950 began turning long before American boots set foot on Korean soil. The heart of the conflict was a civil war between a population arbitrarily divided by colonization and the global geopolitics at the end of the Second World War.
-
-
Audiobook not too captivating
- By A. L. Hinson on 01-27-20
-
The Partition of Ireland and the Troubles: The History of Northern Ireland from the Irish Civil War to the Good Friday Agreement
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 1 hr and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Partition of Ireland and the Troubles: The History of Northern Ireland from the Irish Civil War to the Good Friday Agreement analyzes the tumultuous events that marked the creation of Northern Ireland, and the conflicts fueled by the partition. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Northern Ireland like never before.
-
-
The Partition and the Troubles, slightly biased
- By J. Dalton on 05-19-19
-
Marshal Josip Broz Tito: The Life and Legacy of Yugoslavia's First President
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The World War II era produced many leaders of titanic determination, men whose strengths and weaknesses left an extraordinary imprint on historical affairs. Josip Broz Tito, better known to history as Marshal Tito, was undoubtedly one of these figures. Originally a machinist, Tito leveraged his success in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) and a number of extraordinary strokes of luck into dictatorial rule over Yugoslavia for a span of 35 years. World War II proved the watershed that enabled him to secure control of the country.
-
-
Very short but says a lot
- By NebSoilDoc on 03-28-18
-
The Khmer Rouge: The Notorious History and Legacy of the Communist Regime That Ruled Cambodia in the 1970s
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 1 hr and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The reign of the Khmer Rouge, a Cambodian communist regime, began on April 7, 1975 as Khmer Rouge militants entered the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, ultimately gaining control and forcing out its residents. For the next four years, the regime would remain in power and commit what is now referred to as the Cambodian Genocide. Their reign would result in economic turmoil, cultural destruction, and mass death, impacting Cambodia to this day.
-
A Brief History of Ukraine
- A Singular People Within the Crucible of Empires
- By: Dominic Haynes
- Narrated by: Jordan Vogt
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ukraine is a geographically diverse country with the unfortunate fate of being sandwiched between empires. Though this is frequently explored no further than the global conflicts of the 20th century, in reality, Ukraine’s struggle for self-determination has far deeper roots than most people realize. See the splendor of the Kyivan Rus, gallop with the Golden Horde across the Ukrainian steppe, encounter the legendary Cossacks, and witness the terror of the tsars. From the Romans to the Mongols to the Russians, Ukraine has seen it all and remained uniquely Ukrainian through it all.
-
-
Excellent quick listen
- By Thomas J Anderson on 12-14-23
By: Dominic Haynes
-
Joseph Stalin: The Dictator of the USSR
- Best Biography
- By: The History Hour
- Narrated by: Alexander G.
- Length: 1 hr and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Initially presiding over an oligarchic one-party regime that governed by plurality, Joseph Stalin became the de facto dictator of the Soviet Union. Stalin raised funds for Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction via robberies, kidnappings, and protection rackets. To eradicate those regarded as "enemies of the working class", Stalin instituted the "Great Purge" in which more than a million were imprisoned and at least 700,000 were executed from 1934 to 1939.
-
-
good
- By Justin E. Huynh on 10-28-19
By: The History Hour
-
Cold War: A Captivating Guide to the Korean War and Vietnam War
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The narrative of the Korean War in the West, and particularly in the United States, tells the tale of a conflict between two global superpowers and competing ideologies in a far-flung corner of the globe. The reality is that the wheels of motion that drove the country to war in 1950 began turning long before American boots set foot on Korean soil. The heart of the conflict was a civil war between a population arbitrarily divided by colonization and the global geopolitics at the end of the Second World War.
-
-
Audiobook not too captivating
- By A. L. Hinson on 01-27-20
-
The Partition of Ireland and the Troubles: The History of Northern Ireland from the Irish Civil War to the Good Friday Agreement
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 1 hr and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Partition of Ireland and the Troubles: The History of Northern Ireland from the Irish Civil War to the Good Friday Agreement analyzes the tumultuous events that marked the creation of Northern Ireland, and the conflicts fueled by the partition. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Northern Ireland like never before.
-
-
The Partition and the Troubles, slightly biased
- By J. Dalton on 05-19-19
-
Marshal Josip Broz Tito: The Life and Legacy of Yugoslavia's First President
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The World War II era produced many leaders of titanic determination, men whose strengths and weaknesses left an extraordinary imprint on historical affairs. Josip Broz Tito, better known to history as Marshal Tito, was undoubtedly one of these figures. Originally a machinist, Tito leveraged his success in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) and a number of extraordinary strokes of luck into dictatorial rule over Yugoslavia for a span of 35 years. World War II proved the watershed that enabled him to secure control of the country.
-
-
Very short but says a lot
- By NebSoilDoc on 03-28-18
-
The Khmer Rouge: The Notorious History and Legacy of the Communist Regime That Ruled Cambodia in the 1970s
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 1 hr and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The reign of the Khmer Rouge, a Cambodian communist regime, began on April 7, 1975 as Khmer Rouge militants entered the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, ultimately gaining control and forcing out its residents. For the next four years, the regime would remain in power and commit what is now referred to as the Cambodian Genocide. Their reign would result in economic turmoil, cultural destruction, and mass death, impacting Cambodia to this day.
-
A Brief History of Ukraine
- A Singular People Within the Crucible of Empires
- By: Dominic Haynes
- Narrated by: Jordan Vogt
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ukraine is a geographically diverse country with the unfortunate fate of being sandwiched between empires. Though this is frequently explored no further than the global conflicts of the 20th century, in reality, Ukraine’s struggle for self-determination has far deeper roots than most people realize. See the splendor of the Kyivan Rus, gallop with the Golden Horde across the Ukrainian steppe, encounter the legendary Cossacks, and witness the terror of the tsars. From the Romans to the Mongols to the Russians, Ukraine has seen it all and remained uniquely Ukrainian through it all.
-
-
Excellent quick listen
- By Thomas J Anderson on 12-14-23
By: Dominic Haynes
-
Joseph Stalin: The Dictator of the USSR
- Best Biography
- By: The History Hour
- Narrated by: Alexander G.
- Length: 1 hr and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Initially presiding over an oligarchic one-party regime that governed by plurality, Joseph Stalin became the de facto dictator of the Soviet Union. Stalin raised funds for Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction via robberies, kidnappings, and protection rackets. To eradicate those regarded as "enemies of the working class", Stalin instituted the "Great Purge" in which more than a million were imprisoned and at least 700,000 were executed from 1934 to 1939.
-
-
good
- By Justin E. Huynh on 10-28-19
By: The History Hour
-
Stalin, Volume I
- Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928
- By: Stephen Kotkin
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 38 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Volume One of Stalin begins and ends in January 1928 as Stalin boards a train bound for Siberia, about to embark upon the greatest gamble of his political life. He is now the ruler of the largest country in the world, but a poor and backward one, far behind the great capitalist countries in industrial and military power, encircled on all sides. In Siberia, Stalin conceives of the largest program of social reengineering ever attempted.
-
-
Excellent Book But First Time Listener Beware
- By Nostromo on 03-23-15
By: Stephen Kotkin
-
Jungle of Snakes
- A Century of Counterinsurgency Warfare from the Philippines to Iraq
- By: James R. Arnold
- Narrated by: Mark Ashby
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The end of the Cold War promised a new era of international peace. But instead, violence has proliferated across the globe, not in the form of a superpower arms race or a clash of armies, but in bitter local conflicts marked by terrorism, insurgency, and guerrilla warfare. Former Central Intelligence Agency director James Woolsey likened the post-Cold-War world to "a jungle full of snakes". The emergence of this new, potentially never-ending struggle has forced our military to reevaluate strategies or risk losing hearts, minds, and soldiers the world over.
-
-
Some Lessons
- By Amazon Customer on 10-02-16
By: James R. Arnold
-
The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism
- The Political Economy of Human Rights - Volume I
- By: Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman
- Narrated by: Brian Jones
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A brilliant, shattering, and convincing account of United States-backed suppression of political and human rights in the Third World... It relentlessly dissects the official views of Establishment scholars and their journals. The "best and brightest" pundits of the status quo emerge from this audiobook thoroughly denuded of their credibility.
-
-
must listen
- By Amazon Customer on 09-14-20
By: Noam Chomsky, and others
-
America's War for the Greater Middle East
- A Military History
- By: Andrew J. Bacevich
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro, Andrew J. Bacevich
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the end of World War II until 1980, virtually no American soldiers were killed in action while serving in the Greater Middle East. Since 1990, virtually no American soldiers have been killed in action anywhere else. What caused this shift? Andrew J. Bacevich, one of the country's most respected voices on foreign affairs, offers an incisive critical history of this ongoing military enterprise - now more than 30 years old and with no end in sight.
-
-
A Key to Understanding the US Need for Perp. War
- By Darwin8u on 05-01-16
-
The Master Plan
- ISIS, al-Qaeda, and the Jihadi Strategy for Final Victory
- By: Brian Fishman
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Given how quickly its operations have achieved global impact, it may seem that the Islamic State materialized suddenly. In fact, al-Qaeda's operations chief, Sayf al-Adl, devised a seven-stage plan for jihadis to conquer the world by 2020 that included reestablishing the Caliphate in Syria between 2013 and 2016. Despite a massive schism between the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, al-Adl's plan has proved remarkably prescient. In summer 2014, ISIS declared itself the Caliphate after capturing Mosul, Iraq - part of stage five in al-Adl's plan.
-
-
Fantastic, thorough overview
- By Ian Woods on 11-28-16
By: Brian Fishman
-
Korean War
- A Captivating Guide to Korean War History
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 2 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The narrative of the Korean War in the West, and particularly in the United States, tells the tale of a conflict between two global superpowers and competing ideologies in a far-flung corner of the globe. The reality is that the wheels of motion that drove the country to war in 1950 began turning long before American boots set foot on Korean soil. The heart of the conflict was a civil war between a population arbitrarily divided by colonization and the global geopolitics at the end of the Second World War.
-
-
Awful
- By Kyle on 05-14-18
-
The Arabs
- A History
- By: Eugene Rogan
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 27 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this definitive history of the modern Arab world, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan draws extensively on Arab sources and texts to place the Arab experience in its crucial historical context for the first time. Tracing five centuries of Arab history, Rogan reveals that there was an age when the Arabs set the rules for the rest of the world. Today, however, the Arab world's sense of subjection to external powers carries vast consequences for both the region and Westerners who attempt to control it.
-
-
Superb Book About the Arab World
- By Nostromo on 05-29-16
By: Eugene Rogan
-
The Fate of Africa
- A History of the Continent Since Independence
- By: Martin Meredith
- Narrated by: Fleet Cooper
- Length: 29 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Martin Meredith has revised this classic history to incorporate important recent developments, including the Darfur crisis in Sudan, Robert Mugabe’s continued destructive rule in Zimbabwe, controversies over Western aid and exploitation of Africa’s resources, the growing importance and influence of China, and the democratic movement roiling the North African countries of Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan.
-
-
Africa: Land of Hope and Horror
- By Jeff on 03-08-14
By: Martin Meredith
-
Reclaiming Israel’s History
- Roots, Rights, and the Struggle for Peace
- By: David Brog
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There was a time when Israel could do no wrong in America's eyes. That time is long past, and justly so - no nation is absolutely perfect, particularly not one that is engaged in a conflict as long as the Arab-Israeli conflict. But the myth of the perfect Israel has been supplanted by a far more deleterious myth: the myth of the evil Israel. This new myth has so pervaded contemporary culture that the history of Israel - as well documented as it is - has been recast and retold to fit a false narrative of Israel as violent occupier.
-
-
Excellent summary of Israeli point if view
- By Mendy on 08-12-18
By: David Brog
-
Blood Year
- The Unraveling of Western Counterterrorism
- By: David Kilcullen
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Kilcullen was one of the architects of America's strategy in the late phases of the second Gulf War, and also spent time in Afghanistan and other hotspots. In Blood Year, he provides a view of the current situation in the Middle East and analyzes how America and the West ended up in such dire circumstances. This is an essential book for anyone interested in understanding not only why the region has collapsed into utter chaos, but also what the US can do to alleviate the grim situation.
-
-
A review all of America needs to hear!
- By Jessi L Mead on 06-23-23
By: David Kilcullen
-
Iran
- A Modern History
- By: Abbas Amanat
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 41 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This history of modern Iran is not a survey in the conventional sense but an ambitious exploration of the story of a nation. It offers a revealing look at how events, people, and institutions are shaped by currents that sometimes reach back hundreds of years. The book covers the complex history of the diverse societies and economies of Iran against the background of dynastic changes, revolutions, civil wars, foreign occupation, and the rise of the Islamic Republic.
-
-
Extremely Opinionated.
- By Elijah Rose on 02-13-19
By: Abbas Amanat
-
Legacy of Violence
- A History of the British Empire
- By: Caroline Elkins
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 31 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian: a searing study of the British Empire that probes the country's pervasive use of violence throughout the twentieth century and traces how these practices were exported, modified, and institutionalized in colonies around the globe.
-
-
Great ideas, but very disappointing execution
- By Luc Rey-Bellet on 09-05-22
By: Caroline Elkins