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Blood and Diamonds: Germany’s Imperial Ambitions in Africa
Diamonds have long been bloody. A new history shows how Germany’s ruthless African empire brought diamond rings to retail display cases in America―at the cost of African lives.
Since the late 1990s, activists have campaigned to remove “conflict diamonds” from jewelry shops and department stores. But if the problem of conflict diamonds―gems extracted from war zones―has only recently generated attention, it is not a new one. Nor are conflict diamonds an exception in an otherwise honest industry. The modern diamond business, Steven Press shows, owes its origins to imperial wars and has never escaped its legacy of exploitation.
In Blood and Diamonds , Press traces the interaction of the mass-market diamond and German colonial domination in Africa. Starting in the 1880s, Germans hunted for diamonds in Southwest Africa. In the decades that followed, Germans waged brutal wars to control the territory, culminating in the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples and the unearthing of vast mineral riches. Press follows the trail of the diamonds from the sands of the Namib Desert to government ministries and corporate boardrooms in Berlin and London and on to the retail counters of New York and Chicago. As Africans working in terrifying conditions extracted unprecedented supplies of diamonds, European cartels maintained the illusion that the stones were scarce, propelling the nascent US market for diamond engagement rings. Convinced by advertisers that diamonds were both valuable and romantically significant, American purchasers unwittingly funded German imperial ambitions into the era of the world wars.
Amid today’s global frenzy of mass consumption, Press’s history offers an unsettling reminder that cheap luxury often depends on an alliance between corporate power and state violence.
Since the late 1990s, activists have campaigned to remove “conflict diamonds” from jewelry shops and department stores. But if the problem of conflict diamonds―gems extracted from war zones―has only recently generated attention, it is not a new one. Nor are conflict diamonds an exception in an otherwise honest industry. The modern diamond business, Steven Press shows, owes its origins to imperial wars and has never escaped its legacy of exploitation.
In Blood and Diamonds , Press traces the interaction of the mass-market diamond and German colonial domination in Africa. Starting in the 1880s, Germans hunted for diamonds in Southwest Africa. In the decades that followed, Germans waged brutal wars to control the territory, culminating in the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples and the unearthing of vast mineral riches. Press follows the trail of the diamonds from the sands of the Namib Desert to government ministries and corporate boardrooms in Berlin and London and on to the retail counters of New York and Chicago. As Africans working in terrifying conditions extracted unprecedented supplies of diamonds, European cartels maintained the illusion that the stones were scarce, propelling the nascent US market for diamond engagement rings. Convinced by advertisers that diamonds were both valuable and romantically significant, American purchasers unwittingly funded German imperial ambitions into the era of the world wars.
Amid today’s global frenzy of mass consumption, Press’s history offers an unsettling reminder that cheap luxury often depends on an alliance between corporate power and state violence.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published April 6, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 3, 2026
This is a good well written book about the colonial efforts of the German Empire in Namibia and the growth of the diamond industry. I found the first part of the book to be very interesting. This includes the establishment of the colony and the early growth of the diamond industry and the competition with the British based DeBeers company. I also found the discussion about the importance of the colony in financing WWI and the requirement for industrial diamonds to be very interesting. The book also provided a lot of detail on the politics in Germany and between Germany and Britain to be very interesting as well as the creation of the allure of diamonds by DeBeers.
Bad point. Petty politics between the operators of the colony was very detailed but eventually became tedious.
I would describe the book as scholarly and detailed and a very good history of the German colony.
Bad point. Petty politics between the operators of the colony was very detailed but eventually became tedious.
I would describe the book as scholarly and detailed and a very good history of the German colony.
January 18, 2021
An interesting book on a topic that we must say is not very well known outside of research and historical circles; I should thank for receiving a copy of the book. The author has presented many details, dates, context. It was useful and interesting for me to read the book and I recommend it to all history buffs, but also historians - the book gives nuances to the process of colonialism in Africa and especially to not so well-known actors like Imperial Germany.
August 11, 2023
A very well written account of a little studied chapter in Germany‘s past.
May 21, 2024
great book on the exact topic of my interest! steven press inspires me to work in German imperial history bc all his published works have been so international, so cool. great writing, great organization, overall a good read
February 21, 2022
A fascinant read and topic that nowadays is not so much discussed,the harsh exploration of diamonds in African colonies by Germany in last century. Blood,starvation,violence.slaverism.concentration camps, ugly facts... This is very well researched.A work that abrange a more nuanced look to the psychological impact of modern marketing&capitalism in create a brand and cultural value and habits to convince people about have a possession of diamonds, even the little pieces.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews