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Hope: Adventures of a Diamond Hardcover – March 26, 2002

3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 5 ratings

The Hope Diamond–the largest and most beautiful blue diamond ever found–has inspired centuries of legends and lies, fabulous superstition, and fierce passion. French kings and ravishing Hollywood stars have worn it next to their hearts; reckless aristocrats have let it slip through their fingers. Flaunted, hidden, stolen, and cursed, the Hope Diamond still tantalizes and inspires all who lay eyes on it. Now in Hope: Adventures of a Diamond, Marian Fowler tells the riveting story of this mythical gem and the extraordinary men and women who have owned and lost it.

It is a tale that begins more than a billion years ago in the mountains of India where the gem was forged of basest materials. Unearthed sometime before the birth of Christ, it was more than twice its present size and wondrously shaped. For long slow centuries, the immense blue stone, revered as a divine gift, probably served as the unwinking eye in a statue of a Hindu god.

With the arrival of Europeans, the Diamond was snatched from the realm of the mystical and thrust into the world of commerce, materialism, and political symbolism. Marian Fowler brilliantly unfolds the complex story of how French merchant/adventurer Jean-Baptiste Tavernier acquired the sacred diamond in India and sold it to the one monarch who could–and would–pay for it, King Louis XIV of France. Cut and polished to half its original size, the diamond remained in the possession of the house of Bourbon, passed down from Louis to Louis, until a cabal of common thieves stole it during the French Revolution.

The pace quickens once the diamond comes into the possession of Philip Hope, the scion of a Dutch-based trading and banking empire who gave it the name it has carried ever since. But the heady days in the London townhouses and country estates of the Hope family were brief, and by the twentieth century, the Hope Diamond had become the object of unseemly marital wrangling and social climbing of American millionaires. It was only when diamond master Harry Winston donated this prize to the Smithsonian Institution that the Hope was finally safe and accessible to all who wanted to admire it.

A sweeping saga peopled with the world’s most beautiful women and most unprincipled men,
Hope: Adventures of a Diamond is at once a page-turning thriller and a glittering social history of the astonishing few who craved–and could afford–such a gem. Dazzling and delicious, this is a book truly worthy of its flawless, priceless subject.
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Born scores of miles below the earth's surface eons ago, the great gem known today as the Hope diamond has been "crisscrossing countries and cultures for more than two thousand years," bringing fortune and disaster alike to its many owners. Marian Fowler reconstructs the flawless blue diamond's long journey from its discovery in the mines of northern India to Europe and onward to America. Along the way she looks at the strange mania for gem collecting among Europe's nobility (noting, for instance, that French monarch Louis bought $16 million worth of jewels in the year 1687, to his treasurer's great consternation); studies a remarkable gang of jewel thieves who used the turmoil of the French Revolution to their highly profitable advantage; and examines the career of the American entrepreneur and gem collector Harry Winston, who "became obsessed with owning all the world's largest, most famous diamonds," and whose largesse, though self-serving, made the great gem part of the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution. Fowler's tale has all the twists and turns of a good mystery, and gem fanciers and history buffs alike will enjoy following the Hope diamond's curious career through her pages. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly

Billed as the biography of the Hope Diamond, this comprehensive but overwritten book traces the cherished jewel's history from its formation in India more than a billion years ago to its current status as museum treasure. In her painstaking saga of the diamond's "life," Canadian Fowler (Blenheim: Biography of a Palace; In a Gilded Cage: American Heiresses Who Married British Aristocrats; etc.) hypothesizes about the blue diamond's origins, then introduces readers to each of its owners. The first, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a French merchant, sold the stone to King Louis XIV; the last, American jeweler Harry Winston, donated it to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, where the 45-carat gem has drawn millions of visitors for the past 40 years. Fowler's chronicle traverses the diamond's passage from the pockets of thieves who stole the diamond during the French Revolution to England and its namesake owner, Henry Philip Hope, into the hands of a social-climbing actress; then across the ocean to America, where an alcoholic heiress donned it frequently for parties but the author's cliched and overdramatic prose mars the gripping tale. Writing of Philip Hope, she gushes that the diamond "had found the man who, of all its many owners, would love it most faithfully and intensely, love it for its own essence and grace...." Though Fowler honorably corrects false rumors about the diamond and offers a few engaging tangents, this volume does not do its worthy subject justice. Agent, Jay Mandel. (Apr.)Forecast: Diamonds may be timeless, but they're also particularly in vogue now, at least in books. In October, W.H. Freeman released Barren Lands: An Epic Search for Diamonds in the North American Arctic and in November, Walker published Diamond: A Journey to the Heart of an Obsession (Forecasts, Oct.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ballantine Books; 1st edition (March 26, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0345444868
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0345444868
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.45 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.45 x 1.19 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.5 3.5 out of 5 stars 5 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022
    This book offers a great story and history of the famous and beautiful Hope Diamond and also the history of how diamonds became a symbol of wealth and exhibition. There is also a short description of how diamonds are formed geologically.

    It was owned by French Kings Louis XIV, XV, and XVI and then stolen in 1792 after it was confiscated after the Revolution. The book then describes its subsequent travels, owners, jewelers, and history. It is now part of the Smithsonian Gem Collection. My only disappointment is that there are no color photos of the jewel in the book.
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2005
    I read the hardcover version of this book, so I am sorry if this review is inappropriate, but I just wanted to express what a joy this book was to read. An inspired historical romp from the vantage point of probably the world's most famous and notorious gemstone, Dr. Fowler proves she is not only an exceptional detective, but one of the finest stylist of the English language writing non-fiction today. Hope is simply one of the most beautiful and enjoyable books that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. An absolute gem!
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2006
    No other diamond in the world has the pedigree of the French Blue. This book is fascinating and the author infuses the story with mystery and peaks your interest throughout. From ancient India, to the pinnacle of the French Court, to the fog of London and Mr. Hope, to the elegant hand of Cartier, to the eccentric Mrs. McLean, to the remarkable Harry Winston, to the people of the United States of America, this diamond has had a singular journey. I found this book hard to put down and it made me want to see this breathtaking gem again, I want to look into the azure stone and feel its allure again.
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2002
    The most interesting part of this book for me was a glimpse into the lives of French kings who owned the diamond. For the most part, the first 3/4 of the book were a good read. I liked the way the diamond was personified, but didn't care for the way the curse was dramatized, as there was quite frankly little evidence to suggest such a curse. In the more modern history of the diamond, the book starts to become boring, I don't need so many words to tell me that Harry Winston planned not to cut the diamond at all, but changed his mind later and cut it anyway. If you have the time and are interested in the history of the diamond, read the first part of the book and skim through the rest.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2002
    There isn't a lot that could have done to make this more interesting, and the attempts made at conjecture and embellishment (regarding its curse, for example) don't add very much to the content. But, a reader does learn the story of the Hope Diamond and through the telling, about an interesting mix of historical information such as the French Revolution, Regency England, and Gilded Age America. And gem novices can learn about the nature of diamonds and of cultural attitudes to diamonds at various places and times in this book.
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