"Diamond is a clear-eyed, sharp, intriguing book about
the gemstone that has enthralled human beings for centuries
"Diamond is a clear-eyed, sharp, intriguing book about the
gemstone that has enthralled human beings for centuries. Matthew Hart is
both a crack reporter and a terrific story-teller, cool enough to detail
the rough business and nasty politics of diamonds, but passionate enough
to convey their almost magical allure."
-Susan Orlean, author of
The Orchid Thief
"Hart's fascinating account of the
glittering business of mining and marketing diamonds is also a story of
avarice, theft, aesthetics, monopoly, and war...The story of the diamond
business is rife with history, price-fixing, prospecting and warfare. A
consistently entrancing account." --Booklist (starred review)
"Hart tells a great, great story while
explaining one of the world's most mysterious industries. The book is
first-rate and immensely readable." -Sebastian Junger, author of Fire
and The Perfect Storm
"This is just plain wonderful stuff."-National Geographic Adventure
"An
absorbing voyage into the demimonde of the diamantaire...Hart doubtless
keeps a few secrets for himself, but he unlocks many more in a text
studded with oddments, lore, and technical data, all lightly related.
Diamond fanciers and geology buffs will find this a trove of
information."
-Kirkus Reviews
"I was fascinated
from first page to last. I had no idea the diamond trade was so
adventurous. Every chapter opened my eyes to another intriguing nook of
this hidden world. Next to the diamond hunters, Silicon Valley's
entrepreneurs and Wall Street's traders seem cautious and small
time."
-Po Bronson, author of The Nudist on the Late Shift
and Bombardiers
"The diamond trade,"
writes Matthew Hart, "is a struggle between rapture and calculation."
This diamond-hard definition is just one of many aphoristic gems in
Hart's wonderful "Diamond: A Journey to the Heart of an
Obsession," an elegant and at times spellbinding narrative of the
struggle to possess and profit from the inner fire of the diamond."-Seattle Times
"Matthew Hart is a gifted storyteller
and a fine writer. He has aptly called his book, "a journey to the heart
of an obsession," and what a journey it is! In an epic sweep of time and
place from present-day New York City to Moghul India and back again,
with exploratory sojourns in London, Brazil and South Africa along the
way, Hart reveals the secrets of the prospectors, dealers and cutters
who control the diamond trade. Here too are the stories of European
monarchs, Angolan guerrillas and Russian mobsters, and the histories of
fabled stones like the Hope Diamond, the Koh-I-Noor, and the
extraordinary Pink Star of the Millenium -- which once cast a spell on
Hart himself. "Diamond" is a simply delightful book, as
entrancing as its subject matter."
-Jon Lee Anderson, author of
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
"Matthew
Hart’s new book, Diamond demonstrates just how much there is
to know about the diamond world, and his book is a fascinating glimpse
of a sprawling subculture. Hart’s book describes where diamonds
come from, the various means of mining them and the various ways of
polishing them. This book is so well written that even a dry topic such
as diamond polishing becomes a gripping thriller. Diamond is a
top-notch book in all its facets." -Daily News (MA)
"In Diamond: A Journey to the Heart of An
Obsession, Matthew Hart goes beyond "Indiana Jones"-style derring-do
and Tiffany’s windows to show the obsessive, secretive, and
technology-driven world of diamonds. His book is as fascinating as the
depths of a 40-carat stone." -The Washington Times
"Subtitled ‘A Journey to the Heart of an
Obsession’, this engrossing book shines light on the diamond
industry in the way a facet polished into a rough diamond admits light
into the stone’s mysterious heart." -The Sunday Oregonian
"Hart is engaging,
cogent and very well informed...he manages to convey some of "the sense
of breathlessness and quest that attends the diamond game." -Star
Tribune
"Meticulously researched, clearly written and completely
engrossing, this multifaceted book is not the product of any slick
advertising campaign but the work of a talented author." -Sun-Sentinel
"Hart uses his best
storytelling techniques to keep readers interested but continually uses
facts and evidence to enhance this narrative. From the matchless finds
on Africa's Diamond Coast to the salesrooms of De Beers to the
tension-packed life of a cutter, Hart provides a suitably sparkling
account, shedding new light on the world of diamonds." -Post &
Courier
"In Matthew Hart's hands, diamonds are beautiful objects with
stories to tell from the South African veldt to the shops on Fifth
Avenue in New York. [A] superb study of the stones and their attendant
magic and mystery." - The Ottawa Citizen
[A]"wonderfully absorbing study of the diamond industry"...with
"stirring accounts of grittily noble explorers and prospectors...
wonderful passages about the cutting of diamonds, which has a poetry of
its own..." - The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
