Chasing the Mountain of Light - Softcover

Kevin Rushby

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006552153 ISBN 13: 9780006552154

Publisher: Flamingo, 2000

Synopsis

In the beginning diamonds came from India. And the greatest of those ancient stones, the Koh-i-Noor, the Mountain of Light, cut a deep and bloody path across its history and legends. Fought over, cursed and occasionally lost, taken from the mines of Golconda in the south to the Mughal palaces of Agra and Delhi in the north, it finally reached the Sikhs in the Punjab, only to be seized by British agents eager to please the young Queen Victoria. It now lies in the Tower of London, its ownership still disputed.Kevin Rushby follows the trail of this great jewel through fascinating corners of India, crossing along the way the paths of dealers, smugglers and petty crooks. The historical characters he also encounters are no less colourful, from the bloodthirsty tyrants who built mountains of human heads to the man-god Krishna. Rushby unravels the religious symbolism and mysticism behind our passion for diamonds, on a journey that is humorous, informative and, as it progresses, more than a little dangerous.

About this title

Review

A shiny piece of carbon is what ensnares writer Kevin Rushby, luring him into a strange world of hidden towns with no names, a land of charms, chakras, cardamom, and missing gem mines. But it's not just any chunk of glittering jewel with which Rushby is obsessed: he's pursuing the history of the Koh-I-Noor diamond, a 106-karat piece of crystalline perfection now part of England's Crown Jewels. Research pulls him across India and into a diverse culture that is so exotic--and simultaneously so mystical, esoteric, and often criminal--that he may as well have fallen into Middle-earth.

The diamond now sits in the Tower of London, but the magnificent gem's past proves elusive, its light flickering in a maze of mirrors, cloaked in myth, lies, and mystery. The truth about whence it came and which palms it crossed may ultimately never be uncovered. Nevertheless, Rushby artfully uses the pretext to uncover rich stories: of the excesses of wealthy jewelers, of impoverished farmers who discover gleaming wealth in the fields, and of clandestine diamond markets, where cloth-wrapped baubles are sold on the streets like peddled crack.

Names of Indian places and people do get confusing--and there are more characters spinning around in this book than a Russian novel--but that doesn't matter. Rushby weaves Chasing the Mountain of Light with lush detail, creating a tale as compelling, multifaceted, and breathtaking as the diamond itself. --Melissa Rossi

About the Author

Kevin Rushby has lived and worked in Sudan, Malaysia, Thailand and Yemen. He is a full-time writer and author of four previous books: Chasing the Mountain of Light, Eating the Flowers of Paradise, Children of Kali and Hunting Pirate Heaven.

About this edition

• Publisher: Flamingo
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0006552153
• ISBN 13: 9780006552154
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272