King of stones, valued since antiquity for their unrivalled hardness, diamonds today are both desired and deplored. Once faceted and polished they glitter on the fingers of brides-to-be and in the ornaments of the super-rich, but their extraction in some of the world's poorest countries remains contentious. Immensely valuable for their size, stones can be easily hidden and transported, and so are favoured by those fleeing persecution as well as by...

Investigates the authenticity of the Chandos portrait and five others as true likenesses of playwright William Shakespeare, and explores Shakespeare's life and world, presenting and describing individual costumes, theater models, manuscripts, and maps from his time as well as portraits of his contemporaries.