Mao's Great Famine

The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-62

By: Frank Dikötter

Narrated by: Daniel York Loh

Bloomsbury presents Mao's Great Famine by Frank Dikötter, read by Daniel York Loh.

WINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE

‘A gripping and masterful portrait of the brutal court of Mao, based on new research but also written with great narrative verve' Simon Sebag Montefiore

'Harrowing and brilliant' Ben Macintyre

‘A critical contribution to Chinese history' Wall Street Journal

Between 1958 and 1962, 45 million Chinese people were worked, starved or beaten to death.
Mao Zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the Great Leap Forward, an attempt to catch up with and overtake the West in less than fifteen years. It led to one of the greatest catastrophes the world has ever known.

Dikotter's extraordinary research within Chinese archives brings together for the first time what happened in the corridors of power with the everyday experiences of ordinary people, giving voice to the dead and disenfranchised. This groundbreaking account definitively recasts the history of the People's Republic of China.©2010 Frank Dikötter (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Mao disaster of China 1958-1962.

Narration is great better than the first book. The book is well informative about China’s great leap forward. The author goes into depth on the subject and explains how & why Mao Great Leap Forward failed and led to millions of deaths in China 1958-1962.

Excellent

Really excellent book, but also narration! The narrator's pronunciation of Chinese names and places is 100% correct and gives the audio production that much more polish and credibility.

EXCELLENT

This is a must read for everyone who is interested in Chinese history.
If you ever wonder what “HELL ON EARTH “ means, listen to this book.
Mr. Daniel York Loh is an excellent narrator.
My thanks to all involved, JK

Impotant History

This is an important history for anyone to understand the consequences of extreme communism poorly executed. Not for the squeamish, though. I was disappointed that the "epilogue" did not include the policy shifts that alleviated the famine.

The horror! The horror!

Apart from the shockingly superb story, I greatly appreciate the narrator’s mastery of Chinese pronunciation!