Diamonds in the Desert

Book excerpt: This well written anecdotal account of the early days of diamond production in Namibia focuses on the settler pioneer August Stauch, who has also become a legend among the settler community today. The author gives a vivid description of the major diamond discoveries and the rush for claims in 1908, followed by the struggle for control and monopoly which eventually led to the takeover by De Beers. It also deals with the political career of August Stauch as a member of the old "Landesrat" and of the Legislative Assembly established in 1926, and describes the fall of his business empire in Germany and Namibia in the interwar period. The biography glorifies a time which, in the overall history of diamond mining in Namibia, is relatively unimportant, and tends to reinforce dearly held colonial myths ("the men who made South West"). It is lavishly illustrated with photos, drawings and facsimile prints of documents. (Eriksen/Moorsom 1989).