Book Review of 'Mao's Great Famine'

'Mao's Great Famine' by Dutch academic Frank Dikötter and was announced (6 July 2011) as the winner of the 2011 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction.  The book chronicles an era in Chinese history much speculated about but never before fully documented.

In his review for Food Security Steve Yearley writes "This book stands out from other accounts of the famine inflicted on China from 1958-61 on account of its basis in recently opened archives and in the countless compelling details which are provided to clarify the interlocking themes of the text. The scope of the text is enormous but it returns repeatedly to the stories of individual villages and villagers, people whose letters of complaint are recorded in archives across China."

Read the full review at  Food Security Journal - Book Review Frank Dikötter, Mao’s Great Famine by Steven Yearley