" Extraordinary . William Dalrymple and Anita Anand have found previously ignored and untranslated Persian and Afghan sources to give us fresh information" --Ysenda Maxtone Graham, The Times " Riveting. Dalrymple and Anand present as evocative a rendering as the most enthralling bazaar storyteller while providing an astute and empathetic study of the historical landscape through which the diamond has made its troubled way . This highly readable and entertaining book . finally sets the record straight on the history of the Koh-i-Noor" --Tarquin Hall, Sunday Times " Dalrymple and Anand''s tale is a writer''s gift " --Robert Leigh-Pemberton, Daily Telegraph "The history of the many who have coveted the diamond is long and involved, full of wonder and awe, treachery and bloodshed" -- Observer "Dalrymple tracks its tortuous journey across the Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan to its arrival in the Punjabi treasury; Anand tells the subsequent story of British ownership. Their two narratives are neatly spliced and stylistically harmonious *****" --Matthew Dennison, Mail on Sunday "[Dalrymple and Anand] have a real story to tell . for anyone with a taste for that classic blend of blood and bling, for "oceans of pearls and gold" and hecatombs of severed heads, for monstrous heaps of eyeballs - 20,000 of them - and precious stones "in quantities that beggar all description" this is an oriental Games of Thrones - Dalrymple''s own reference - in spades " --David Crane, Spectator " Meticulously researched and brilliantly written . In fewer than 300 quick-reading pages, Dalrymple and Anand bust myth after myth" --Jon Wilson, BBC History Magazine "Dalrymple tells this complicated story with verve and admirable brevity , drawing on a wide range of literature and memoirs.

He paints a picture in which elegance and refinement are married to treachery and hideous brutality . This is a book which anyone interested in 19th century India and Indio-British relations will want to read" --Allan Massie, Scotsman "Gruesome and ceaselessly dramatic" -- Daily Telegraph "For all that the Koh-i-Noor may be a doubtful best friend, there is no doubting the fascination of its story, told so engagingly here " --John Ure, Country Life "Koh-i-Noor offers memorable tales of Indian courtly intrigue and violence , and explores the shifting fortunes of South Asian dynasties, the consolidation of British power in the subcontinent, and the British monarchy during and after Queen Victoria''s reign" -- Times Literary Supplement "Dalrymple and Anand bring every stage of the Koh-i-Noor''s turbulent past to life . It is an utterly fascinating story, revealing the nature of power through the history of one of its most potent symbols" --Lucy Moore, Literary Review "In this vivid history of one of the world''s most celebrated gemstones, the Indian diamond known as the Koh-i-Noor , Anita Anand and William Dalrymple put an inventive twist on the old maxim. "Follow the diamond," they realise, and it can lead into a dynamic, original and supremely readable history of empires " --Maya Jasanoff, Guardian "The fascinating story of this enormous jewel, currently kept in the Tower of London, is told in a compelling new book by Radio 4''s Anita Anand (Any Answers) and historian William Dalrymple . The book comes out on June 15 and I can''t wait to get my hands on it " --Richard and Judy, Daily Express " William Dalrymple is to non-fiction what JK Rowling is to fiction . This joint project with Anita Anand is bound to fly off the shelves as quickly as readers can devour it" -- Bookseller.