Stone of Heaven : Unearthing the Secret History of Imperial Green Jade

by Levy, Adrian; Scott-Clark, Cathy

• ISBN13: 9780316095587
• ISBN10: 0316095583
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-02
• Publisher: Back Bay Books

Summary

Taking us from the imperial courts of ancient China to a squalid mine in Myanmar today, this extraordinary book reveals for the first time the bizarre true story of Imperial Green Jade, one of the rarest stones in the world, more precious than diamonds, coveted for its life-extending powers and its aphrodisiac properties as well as for its astonishing beauty -- a stone that has shaped the destiny of nations and changed the lives of all who have worn it. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark are British investigative journalists specializing in foreign subjects, writing for the Sunday Times of London and other periodicals. Their stories are regularly broadcast by the BBC and have been syndicated in thirty countries

Table of Contents

Illustrations	xiii
Author Note	xv
Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction	xix
An Emperor's Obsession	3	(26)
Lord of the Mines	29	(28)
A Jungly and Evil Place	57	(23)
The Palace Plunderers	80	(29)
`The Far Off, the Strange, the Wonderful, the Original, the True, the Brave, the Conquered'	109	(31)
An Imperial Side-Show	140	(31)
Twilight in the Forbidden City	171	(29)
Whore of the Orient	200	(34)
As Dead as the Moon	234	(25)
The New Lord of the Mines	259	(24)
Welcome to Jadeland	283	(29)
The Valley of Death	312	(33)
Romancing the Stone	345	(22)
Notes	367	(20)
Bibliography	387	(6)
Index	393