Forgotten voices of Mao's great famine, 1958 - 1962 an oral history
Xun Zhou
- XI, 315 S Kt.
Includes bibliographical references and index
"In 1958, China's revered leader Mao Zedong instituted a program designed to transform his giant nation into a Communist utopia. Called the Great Leap Forward, Mao's grand scheme-like so many other utopian dreams of the 20th century-proved a monumental disaster, resulting in the mass destruction of China's agriculture, industry, and trade while leaving large portions of the countryside forever scarred by man-made environmental disasters. The resulting three-year famine claimed the lives of more than 45 million people in China. In this remarkable oral history of modern China's greatest tragedy, survivors of the cataclysm share their memories of the devastation and loss. The range of voices is wide: city dwellers and peasants, scholars and factory workers, parents who lost children and children who were orphaned in the catastrophe all speak out. Powerful and deeply moving, this unique remembrance of an unnecessary and unhindered catastrophe illuminates a dark recent history that remains officially unacknowledged to this day by the Chinese government and opens a window on a society still feeling the impact of the terrible Great Famine"-- "A comprehensive history of the Great Famine of 1958-61, in the words of the survivors, based on hundreds of hours of interviews across China"--
9780300184044 hardback
9780300184044
2013015473
Famines--History--China--20th century Food supply--History--China--20th century Famines--History--20th century--China Food supply--History--20th century--China HISTORY--China--Asia HISTORY--Modern--20th Century SOCIAL SCIENCE--Disasters & Disaster Relief
China--Population--History--20th century China--Population--History--20th century