Skip to Main Content

Forgotten Voices of Mao's Great Famine, 1958-1962: An Oral History

Online ISBN:
9780300199246
Print ISBN:
9780300184044
Publisher:
Yale University Press
Book

Forgotten Voices of Mao's Great Famine, 1958-1962: An Oral History

Published online:
29 May 2014
Published in print:
26 November 2013
Online ISBN:
9780300199246
Print ISBN:
9780300184044
Publisher:
Yale University Press

Abstract

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 twentieth 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 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. This 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.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close