Diamond
Matthew Hart
thg 11 2001 · Penguin Random House Audio · Người đọc: Daniel Gerroll
headphones
Sách nói
5 giờ 56 phút
Rút gọn
family_home
Đủ điều kiện
info
reportĐiểm xếp hạng và bài đánh giá chưa được xác minh Tìm hiểu thêm
Bạn muốn nghe thử 9 phút? Nghe bất cứ lúc nào, ngay cả khi không có mạng.
Thêm
Giới thiệu về sách nói này
On a hot morning in May 1999, three Brazilian garimpeiros(small-scale miners) found a large pink diamond in the muddy waters of the Abaete River, a discovery that captivated the diamond trade. Beginning with this dramatic and revealing story, Matthew Hart takes readers on a journey far beyond the window at Tiffany's, into an obsessive, largely hidden, and utterly fascinating world.
From the fog-bound smugglers' paradise of Africa's Diamond Coast to the Manhattan offices of one of the world's most flamboyant diamantaires; from the London salesrooms of De Beers, which manages the longest-running cartel in modern business history, to a truck-parts shop fronting a diamond brokerage in Brazil, Matthew Hart has followed the diamond trail, encountering characters as memorable as the stones they seek. He recreates the modern history of diamonds, starting in 1869 when a native boy in South Africa found a large crystal on a farm, sparking a rush that brought Cecil Rhodes and Ernest Oppenheimer their glory. He chronicles the sensational diamond strike in the 1990s in Canada's Northwest Territories that has shaken the fortress of the old cartel, and profiles the audacious young female geologist Eira Thomas who, against all odds, discovered near the Arctic Circle one of the richest diamond fields in the world. He watches one of the finest diamond cutters operating on a priceless stone and portrays the lives of the countless, nameless cutters in India who have transformed the industry by making valuable the tiny stones that were once considered worthless.
Diamonds also have their dark side. "Malfeasance rustles in the background of the diamond world like a snake in dry grass," writes Hart as he documents the relentless and ingenious thievery that pervades the business and the even more damaging revelations of "war diamonds" financing brutal conflicts in Africa. The diamond world is at a crossroads, he notes, and "who will rule diamonds now and what form the once-secretive business will take are the issues of the day."
In the end, it is the stone itself that fascinates and bewitches the reader. Diamonds are accidents of nature, carbon crystals compressed deep underground millions of years ago; parts of them may even predate the Earth itself. And they are elusive, carried to the surface only in slender volcanoes known as "pipes," most of which are actually barren. Matthew Hart has captured the essence of an exotic substance and its world as surely as a diamond captures light: bending it, reflecting it, and returning it in a blaze of color.
From the fog-bound smugglers' paradise of Africa's Diamond Coast to the Manhattan offices of one of the world's most flamboyant diamantaires; from the London salesrooms of De Beers, which manages the longest-running cartel in modern business history, to a truck-parts shop fronting a diamond brokerage in Brazil, Matthew Hart has followed the diamond trail, encountering characters as memorable as the stones they seek. He recreates the modern history of diamonds, starting in 1869 when a native boy in South Africa found a large crystal on a farm, sparking a rush that brought Cecil Rhodes and Ernest Oppenheimer their glory. He chronicles the sensational diamond strike in the 1990s in Canada's Northwest Territories that has shaken the fortress of the old cartel, and profiles the audacious young female geologist Eira Thomas who, against all odds, discovered near the Arctic Circle one of the richest diamond fields in the world. He watches one of the finest diamond cutters operating on a priceless stone and portrays the lives of the countless, nameless cutters in India who have transformed the industry by making valuable the tiny stones that were once considered worthless.
Diamonds also have their dark side. "Malfeasance rustles in the background of the diamond world like a snake in dry grass," writes Hart as he documents the relentless and ingenious thievery that pervades the business and the even more damaging revelations of "war diamonds" financing brutal conflicts in Africa. The diamond world is at a crossroads, he notes, and "who will rule diamonds now and what form the once-secretive business will take are the issues of the day."
In the end, it is the stone itself that fascinates and bewitches the reader. Diamonds are accidents of nature, carbon crystals compressed deep underground millions of years ago; parts of them may even predate the Earth itself. And they are elusive, carried to the surface only in slender volcanoes known as "pipes," most of which are actually barren. Matthew Hart has captured the essence of an exotic substance and its world as surely as a diamond captures light: bending it, reflecting it, and returning it in a blaze of color.
Giới thiệu tác giả
Matthew Hart’s feature writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, The Atlantic Monthly, Granta, The Times of London, the Toronto Globe and Mail, and The Financial Post. He was a contributing editor of the New York trade magazine Rapaport Diamond Report and has appeared on 60 Minutes, CNN, and the National Geographic Channel. He has written two IMAX films, numerous TV documentaries, and feature-length magazine and newspaper pieces on topics as diverse as Argentine polo, Princess Di, and the theft of the most valuable private art collection in the world from a palace in Ireland. He lives in New York.
Xếp hạng sách nói này
Cho chúng tôi biết suy nghĩ của bạn.
Thông tin nghe
Điện thoại thông minh và máy tính bảng
Cài đặt ứng dụng Google Play Sách cho Android và iPad/iPhone. Ứng dụng sẽ tự động đồng bộ hóa với tài khoản của bạn và cho phép bạn đọc trực tuyến hoặc ngoại tuyến dù cho bạn ở đâu.
Máy tính xách tay và máy tính
Bạn có thể đọc sách mua trên Google Play bằng cách sử dụng trình duyệt web của máy tính.
