As exciting as it’s incisive, Stoned is a raucous adventure in the course of the historical past of human want for what is unusual, and subsequently treasured.
What makes a stone a jewel? What makes a jewel worthwhile? And why can we covet gorgeous issues? On this sensible account of ways 8 jewels formed the process historical past, jeweler and scientist Aja Raden tells an authentic and frequently startling tale approximately our unshakeable habit to attractiveness and the darker aspect of human want.
What actions the arena is what actions each and every people: want. Jewellery—which has lengthy served as a stand-in for wealth and gear, glamor and good fortune—has birthed cultural actions, introduced political dynasties, and began wars. Masterfully weaving in combination pop technological know-how and historical past, Stoned breaks historical past into 3 classes—Need, Take, and Have—and explains what the diamond for your finger has to do with the GI Invoice, why inexperienced-tinted Jewellery has been exalted by way of such a lot of cultures, why the glass beads that purchased Long island for the Dutch have been to start with regarded as a good industry, and the way the French Revolution began over a coveted necklace.
Studded with full of life personalities and engaging main points, Stoned tells the exceptional tale of our abiding want for the uncommon and unusual.
