China was soon in the grips of perpetual revolution until 1976. The great chinese famine by yang jisheng which catalogues the sheer humanity of this disaster, dikotters book helps bring together the experience of ordinary people and the governmental policies that led to the famine in a way that forces us to reassess modern chinese history and most importantly the role of mao zedong. More people died in mao s great famine than in the entire first world war and yet their story remains substantially untold. The great famine in china, 19581962 yale university press. There can never be enough novels dealing with the horrors of the great chinese famine and the cultural revolution. An oral history 20 are filled with evidence of lies, coverups, theft, beatings, starvation, and cannibalism. Maos great famine history bibliographies cite this for me. 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. An unprecedented, groundbreaking history of chinas great famine that recasts the era of mao. Mao zedongs great leap forward, intended to transform china into a socialist. These accounts are especially powerful because they come straight from the archives, and from the mouths of.
But writers still need to tread carefully when they. Mao zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the great leap forward, an attempt to catch up to and overtake britain in. The subjects have been covered in fine nonfiction books, such as frank dikotter. 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.
A mustread jung chang 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. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 195862 by frank dikotter online at alibris. The basic narrative of the great famine that hit the peoples republic around 1960 has been known. The basic narrative of the great famine that hit the peoples republic around 1960 has been known outside china at least. This famine was the greatest single manmade catastrophe in chinas history, but it remains in the shadows of chinas memory, let alone ours. A famous documentary maker has inspired more than a hundred. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 195862 by diktter, frank and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Robert bickers applauds an account that casts new light on one of the darkest episodes in chinas recent past. Antisocialism, democide mao zedong s 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.
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, 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. Mao s great famine of the late 1950s continues to boggle the mind. A famous documentary maker has inspired more than a hundred young people to take part in an oral history project to collect peasants stories of the great famine in. Maos great famine is the story of that period, officially called the great leap forward. Dikotter calculates that the excess death tolls he has found tend to be 50 per cent higher. The causes for the disaster are many, and they primarily come from the topchairman mao, the communist dictator from 194976. He has published ten books about the history of china, including maos great famine, which won the bbc samuel johnson prize for nonfiction in 2011, and. 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.
Maos great famine of the late 1950s continues to boggle the mind. The most authoritative and comprehensive study of the biggest and most lethal famine in history. It is unimaginable, to the average american, to live in a country which is so underdeveloped, that the government would send operatives door to door to collect any metal, or tinware, that was in your home. Called the great leap forward, maos grand schemelike so many other utopian dreams of the 20th centuryproved a monumental disaster, resulting in the mass destruction of chinas agriculture, industry, and trade while leaving large portions of the. Maos great famine wins samuel johnson prize bbc news. Nov 11, 2012 a famous documentary maker has inspired more than a hundred young people to take part in an oral history project to collect peasants stories of the great famine in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Before moving to asia in 2006, he was professor of the modern history of china at the university of london. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 195862, is a 2010 book by. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 1958 62, is a 2010 book. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 19581962, presented by. Recording the untold stories of chinas great famine wbur news. In addition to claiming more than 45 million lives, it also led to the destruction of agriculture, industry, trade, and. Winner of the samuel johnson prizean unprecedented, groundbreaking history of china s great famine that recasts the era of mao zedong and the history of the people s republic of china. Maos great famine 2012 a documentary focusing on the. Maos great famine compiles never before seen footage from. Clean, tight and strong binding with clean dust jacket. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that. He has published ten books about the history of china, including maos great famine, which won the bbc samuel johnson prize for nonfiction in 2011, and the tragedy of liberation, which was shortlisted for the george orwell prize. Based on four years of research in recently opened chinese provincial, county, and city archives. 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.
There are plenty of books on sale in beijing bookshops that detail the darker side of maos rule. 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. The significance of this important book is that the authors sources are no longer accessible and, moreover, they reveal the extent of peoples suffering, the complicity of the authorities and the sterling resistance of. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 195862, is a 2010 book by frank dikotter, chair professor of humanities at the university of hong kong and professor of the modern history of china from the school of oriental and african studies at the university of london. No one book or even set of books could encompass the tens of millions of lives needlessly and intentionally destroyed or explain the paranoid megalomania of china s leaders at the time.
It shows how little people even now understood what happened to them or why. The unknown story 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. Maos great famine, do not rise above the levels of sensationalism. The subjects have been covered in fine nonfiction books, such as. The horrors of chinas great leap forward are unveiled in a masterly study of the hateful plan, writes jonathan fenby. Maos great famine 2012 a documentary focusing on the chinese cultural revolution from 1966 until 1976, a period in which mao zedongs policies intentionally sacrificed an estimated 45,000,000 people from the countryside in order to feed the regimes industrial and political centers 52. No one book or even set of books could encompass the tens of millions of lives needlessly and intentionally destroyed or explain the paranoid megalomania of chinas leaders at the time. 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. More people died in maos great famine than in the entire first world war and yet their story remains substantially untold. Sep 04, 2010 books maos great famine by frank dikotter. Recording the untold stories of chinas great famine. The unknown storymaos 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. 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.
Forgotten voices of maos great famine, 19581962 yale. Oct 01, 2010 he has published ten books about the history of china, including mao s great famine, which won the bbc samuel johnson prize for nonfiction in 2011, and the tragedy of liberation, which was shortlisted for the george orwell prize. Zhou xun is a lecturer in modern history at the university of essex. Victims of communism day ten films to honor the dead. However, the fact that the books are written by mainland chinese authors. Beginning soon after the implementation of the policies of the great leap forward of 19581961, when the drive to collectivize and industrialize undermined the livelihoods of the vast majority of peasant workers, chinas great famine was the worst famine in human history. As early as late summer 1959 the press overseas was reporting a disastrous harvest in china and for three years there were consistent and accurate reports about bad harvests, shortages. Frank dikotter, maos great famine, the history of chinas most devastating. Apr 12, 2018 there can never be enough novels dealing with the horrors of the great chinese famine and the cultural revolution. The books blamed the famine on natural disasters and our debt to the soviet union. These are the sources and citations used to research mao s great famine. Based on survivors testimonies, this book was greeted with huge acclaim when published in hong kong as an essential work of reckoning. This bibliography was generated on cite this for me on thursday, june 22, 2017.
The basic narrative of the great famine that hit the peoples republic around 1960 has been known outside china at least since jasper beckers. 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. Like jasper beckers book, dikotters focuses on describing and conveying to the. With mao s death came the end of the cultural revolution, and a reemergent china s new focus on stability and increasing prosperity. Dikotter s study largely bases itself on facts and figures compiled from local communist party archives and offices. Maos secret famine the maoist regime insisted that the great famine of 19581962 was a natural disaster, but it actually resulted from the reckless policies and a pitiless disregard for human life of the regime itself. Aug 01, 2015 zhous the great famine in china, 19581962. The unknown story mao s 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. Victims of communism day ten films to honor the dead perhaps as many as a hundred million people were victims of communism in the last century, deliberately rounded up, shot, starved, or simply forced to march into snowy wasteland until dead, exterminated by communist regimes. Maos great famine frank dikotter the grey zone from 1958 to 1962 china was pitched into a hell of inconceivable proportions. Human cost of maos great famine and cultural revolution. Reviews the most authoritative and comprehensive study of the biggest and most lethal famine in history. The real jesus christ biblical documentary timeline. Frank dikotter maos great famine the history of chinas most.
Oct 02, 2018 history audio books frank dikotter maos great famine the history of chinas most devastating catastrophe. 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. This first authoritative expose of the 19581962 famine prompted by chinas collectivization plan, the great leap forward, comes at a time when the cult of mao is. Maos great famine by frank dikotter this book is an excellent account of the great famine of china from 195862. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe. She is the author of the great famine in china, 19581962. A documentary history xun zhou beginning soon after the implementation of the policies of the great leap forward of 19581961, when the drive to collectivize and industrialize undermined the livelihoods of the vast majority of peasant workers, chinas great famine was the worst famine in human history. With maos death came the end of the cultural revolution, and a reemergent chinas new focus on stability and increasing prosperity. Dikotter himself claims to have discovered another set of documentary evidence in the local party archives. A documentary history 2012 and forgotten voices of maos great famine. Mao zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the great leap forward, an attempt to catch up and.
Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. In 1958, chinas revered leader mao zedong instituted a program designed to transform his giant nation into a communist utopia. These are the sources and citations used to research maos great famine. Frank dikotter discusses his book, maos great famine.
515 1239 905 296 277 256 1359 1092 738 274 215 1090 442 1300 1594 1581 1432 917 1068 1394 31 749 573 1102 103 1418 931 647 1253 514 740 665 128 1041 1457 93