The term famine, or even great famine, is often used to describe these. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, won the 2011 samuel johnson prize for nonfiction, britains most prestigious book award for nonfiction. Winner of the samuel johnson prizean unprecedented, groundbreaking history of chinas great famine that recasts the era of mao zedong and the history of the peoples republic of china. To mark the 50th anniversary of the famines end, zhou xun, a professor at the university of hong kong, has compiled a selection of key reports. The chinese communist party refers to its victory in 1949 as a liberation. Maos great famine was not merely an isolated episode in the making of modern china. Mao s great famine download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Maos great famine frank dikotter the grey zone from 1958 to 1962 china was pitched into a hell of inconceivable proportions. Winner of the samuel johnson prize an unprecedented, groundbreaking history of chinas great famine that recasts the era of mao zedong and the history of the peoples republic of china.
In china the story of liberation and the revolution th. Usda has been working to reduce food insecurity and hunger. Reexamining the history of the great famine in china through. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 1958 1962 kindle edition by dikotter, frank. This publication summarizes the fiscal year fy 2020 budget for the u. Antisocialism, democide mao zedongs great leap forward, a farreaching program of forced modernization intended to transform china into a socialist paradise, instead results in the greatest holocaust in human history with a death toll of 45 million. After the economic disaster of the great leap forward that claimed tens of millions of lives from 19581962, an. Maos great famine 2012 a documentary detailing the great leap forward and the chinese communist partys attempts at industrialization that lead to the deaths of over 45,000,000 people. Click download or read online button to get mao s great famine book now.
Hong kong the worst catastrophe in china s history, and one of the worst anywhere, was the great famine of 1958 to 1962, and to this day the ruling communist party has not fully acknowledged the degree to which it was a direct result of the forcible herding of villagers into communes under the great leap forward that mao zedong launched in 1958. Maos great famine and depraved indifference econlib. Maos great famine the history of chinas most devastating. The government runs a balanced budget and does not engage in. Historian frank dikotter, having been granted special. Oct 01, 2010 winner of the samuel johnson prizean unprecedented, groundbreaking history of chinas great famine that recasts the era of mao zedong and the history of the peoples republic of china. This acclaimed book by frank dikotter is available at in several formats for your ereader. It lead to one of the greatest catastrophes the world has ever known. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading maos great famine. Dikotters 2010 masterpiece catalogues the tragedy and the coverup of the hideous famine caused by the great leap forward mao zedongs disastrous attempt to jumpstart industrialization in china in read more. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 1958 62. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 19581962.
Sep 06, 2012 frank dikotter discusses his book, mao s great famine. The cultural revolution king county library system. Frank dikotter takes a new look at maos great leap forward 195862, using the recently opened communist party archives. Dec 18, 1999 the largest famine in human history took place in china during 195961. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 19581962 kindle edition by dikotter, frank. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 195862, is a 2010 book by professor and historian frank dikotter about the great. Human cost of maos great famine and cultural revolution exposed in powerful novel. Bernstein abstract in late autumn 1958, mao zedong strongly condemned widespread practices of the great leap forward glf such as subjecting peasants to exhausting labour without adequate food and rest, which had resulted in epidemics, starvation and deaths. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Mao zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the great leap forward, an attempt to catch up to and overtake britain in. Maos great famine isbn 9780802777683 pdf epub frank. Mao zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the great leap forward, an attempt to catch up to and overtake britain in less than 15 years the experiment. Although drought was a contributory factor, this was largely a manmade catastrophe for which mao zedong bears the greatest responsibility.
Though maos great leap forward was celebrated in the west as a major advance, the reality was captured by the name villagers gave to the vast irrigation schemes on which they were forced to labour they called them the killing fields. Pdf this paper examines documentary evidence that has emerged from. Winner of the bbc samuel johnson prize for nonfiction 2011 between 1958 and 1962, 45 million chinese people were worked. When he was a young boy in the countryside, writes yang jisheng, a classmate insisted that chairman mao has been enthronedthat is, following an old. This also further resulted in the great leap forward movement. The unknown story is a 2005 biography of chinese communist leader mao zedong 18931976 written by the wife and husband team of writer jung chang and historian jon halliday, who depict mao as being responsible for more deaths in peacetime than adolf hitler or joseph stalin. Maos secret famine is a book written by jasper becker, the beijing bureau chief for the south china morning post.
We will never know the precise number of casualties, but the best demographic reconstructions indicate about 30 million dead. Mao zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the great leap forward, an attempt to catch up with and overtake the western world in less than fifteen years. Life was cheap, costing a lot less than installing safety equipment or. The institutional causes of chinas great famine, 19591961.
Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Yang jishengs tombstone is the book that broke the silence on of one of historys most terrible crimes. More people died in maos great famine than in the entire first world. Mao zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the great leap forward, an attempt to catch up to and overtake britain in less than 15 years the experiment ended in the greatest catastrophe the country had ever known, destroying tens of millions of lives.
The subsequent cultural revolution was the leaders attempt to take revenge on. The horrors of chinas great leap forward are unveiled in a masterly study of the hateful plan, writes jonathan fenby. The history of chinas most devastating ca tastrophe, 19581962 is the longest and most detailed study of the great leap forward glf famine to appear in english to date. Mao zedong, chairman of the chinese communist party, threw his country into a frenzy with the great leap forward, an attempt to overtake britain, then still seen as an industrial superpower, in less than 15 years. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 19581962, presented by harvard book store. Opinion maos great leap to famine the new york times. Drought, poor weather, policies of the communist party of china were said to be the reasons of the great three years of famine.
Read maos great famine the history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 195862 by frank dikotter available from rakuten kobo. Frank dikotter, maos great famine, the history of chinas most. Over thirty million perished in a grain shortage brought on not by flood, drought, or infestation, but by the insanely irresponsible dictates of chairman mao zedongs great leap forward, an attempt at utopian engineering gone horribly wrong. I have just modified 2 external links on mao s great famine. Pdf reexamining the history of the great famine in china. Professor dikotter says that between those years, at least 45 million. Frank dikotter, maos great famine, the history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 195862. Winner of the bbc samuel johnson prize for nonfiction 2011 between 1958 and 1962, 45 million chinese people were worked, starved or beaten to death. Maos great famine history bibliographies cite this for me. Author yang jisheng is determined to change that with his book. A groundbreaking chronicle of the violent early years of the peoples republic of china, by the author of the bbc samuel johnson prizewinning maos great famine. Becker argues that the american press reported the great chinese famine with accuracy, but leftists and communist sympathisers such as edgar snow, rewi alley, and anna louise strong, remained silent or played down its severity, when mao zedongs great leap forward. Finally, the governor believes that there is great potential to achieve.
Maos great famine by frank dikotter overdrive rakuten. The origins of the famine can be traced to mao zedongs decision, supported by the leadership of chinas communist party, to launch the great leap forward. This bibliography was generated on cite this for me on thursday, june 22, 2017. More people died in maos great famine than in the entire first world war, yet this story has remained largely untold, until now. The concluding volumefollowing maos great famine and the tragedy of liberationin frank dikotters awardwinning trilogy chronicling the communist revolution in china.
The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 195862, is a 2010 book by professor and historian frank dikotter about the great famine of 19581962 in the peoples republic of china under mao zedong 18931976. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 19581962, presented by harvard book. Dec 09, 2012 there are good earlier studies of the famine and one excellent recent one, maos great famine by frank dikotter, but yangs is significant because he lives in china and is boldly unsparing. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple faq for additional information. But most of all i wrote about maos great famine because in the years before the beijing 2008 olympics the party archives were quietly opening up, offering a real bounty of hitherto unseen party. These are the sources and citations used to research maos great famine. Dec 15, 2010 but most of all i wrote about maos great famine because in the years before the beijing 2008 olympics the party archives were quietly opening up, offering a real bounty of hitherto unseen party. Great chinese famine simple english wikipedia, the free. Mao zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the great leap forward, an attempt to catch up to and overtake britain in less than 15 years the. Maos great famine is a gripping and masterful portrait of the brutal court of mao, based on new research but also written with great narrative verve, that tells the gripping story of the manmade famine that killed 45 million people from the dictator and his henchmen down to the villages of rural china simon sebag montefiore. Great chinese famine was a great famine in china from 19581961. The cultural revolution chicago public library overdrive. The cultural revolution king county library system overdrive.
The largest famine in human history took place in china during 195961. Mao zedong 19491976 designed a centrallyplanned economy similar to. Mao s great famine frank dikotter the grey zone from 1958 to 1962 china was pitched into a hell of inconceivable proportions. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading mao s great famine. This also further resulted in the great leap forward movement according to the governments statistics the total death toll is 15 million people. Fy 2020 united states department of agriculture budget summary. To mark the 50th anniversary of the famine s end, zhou xun, a professor at the university of hong kong, has compiled a selection of key reports. Mao zedong documentary biography of the life of chairman mao zedong of china duration.
Mao zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the great leap forward, an attempt to catch up to and, isbn 9780802777683 buy the maos great famine ebook. A documentary history by xun zhou available from rakuten kobo. Sep 20, 2010 though mao s great leap forward was celebrated in the west as a major advance, the reality was captured by the name villagers gave to the vast irrigation schemes on which they were forced to labour they called them the killing fields. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 195862, is a 2010 book by professor and historian frank dikotter about the great chinese famine of 19581962 in the peoples republic of china under mao zedong 18931976. Apr 12, 2018 human cost of maos great famine and cultural revolution exposed in powerful novel.
I have just modified 2 external links on maos great famine. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 195862 peoples trilogy. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 19581962 on. There can never be enough novels dealing with the horrors of the great chinese famine and the cultural. These are the sources and citations used to research mao s great famine.
The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 195862 peoples trilogy book 1 kindle edition by dikotter, frank. Mao zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the great leap forward, an attempt to catch up wi. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the chinese people suffered what may have been the worst famine in history. Human cost of maos great famine and cultural revolution. On purely literary terms i still prefer jasper beckers hungry ghosts, but dikotters archival work on the great leap forward is unsurpassed. Beginning soon after the implementation of the policies of the great leap forward of 19581961, when the drive to collec. The proposed fiscal year 2020 budget invests in the people of illinois. Frank dikotter discusses his book, maos great famine. A direct, hardhitting study of chinas great leap forward in light of newly opened archival material. Feb 12, 2011 in maos great famine, frank dikotter joins the elite club of historians who live up to their duty to impose the undying penalty which history has the power to inflict on wrong. Dec 16, 2010 maos great famine was not merely an isolated episode in the making of modern china.