Author: William Dalrymple, Anita Anand and Devika Cariapa
Publisher: Juggernaut
About the book: Think jewels are boring? You’ll change your mind when you read about the Kohinoor, history’s most famous diamond. Legend says it carries a curse that brings bad luck to all its owners. Some of India’s most powerful kings possessed it and lost it – from the great Mughals to Punjab’s Ranjit Singh – before it was grabbed by the British and sent as a gift to Queen Victoria. In this book you’ll learn: About a throne that cost twice as much as the Taj Mahal Ranjit Singh’s crazy forty camels trick Why no ruler of England has worn the diamond since Queen Victoria