Hungry ghosts mao s secret famine by jasper becker free press. Maos secret famine by jasper becker accessibility books library as well as its powerful features, including thousands and thousands of title from favorite author, along with the capability to read or download hundreds of boos on your pc or smartphone in minutes. But the part of the secret speech in which mao supposedly complains. This magazine published allegations about massive famine deaths that have been quoted ever since. In this horrific story of statesponsored terror, cannibalism, torture, and murder. Maos secret famine kindle edition by jasper becker. Over thirty million perished in a grain shortage brought on not by flood, drought, or infestation, but by the insanely irresponsible dictates of chairman mao zedongs great leap forward, an attempt at utopian engineering gone horribly wrong. In 1958, mao zedong decreed the great leap forward, an attempt to spur becker, beijing bureau chief for the south china morning post, lays bare the facts surrounding the worst famine of modern times.
The rural chinese underclass still fills the cities with ragged refugees, who may not be ghosts but still quite hungry. Horror of a hidden chinese famine the new york times. The history of chinas most devastating catastrophe, 19581962. Central african republic confronts new food threat shortages. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the chinese people suffered what may have been the worst famine in history. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the chinese people suffered what m. Near the end of 1959, with china in the midst of chairman mao.
Becker argues that the american press reported the great chinese famine with accuracy, but leftists and communist sympathisers such as edgar snow, rewi alley. Hungry ghosts is the horrific story of the statesponsored terror, cannibalism, torture, and murder during mao zedongs great leap forward, an attempt at utopian engineering gone wrong. Kindle ebooks can be read on any device with the free kindle app. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. In this sober, lucid, scary book, jasper becker, the beijing correspondent for the south china morning post, attempts the first. Communist politics, not the chinese people, are the cause of chinas problems. Becker writes that his sources for hungry ghosts include documents smuggled out of.
Weakened bodies lead to susceptibility to a variety of deadly viruses, typhus being chief. Over thirty million perished in a grain shortage brought on not by flood, drought, or more. During the irish famine more died from fevers than outright starvation. Journalist jasper becker conducted hundreds of interviews and spent years immersed in painstaking detective work to produce hungry ghosts, the first full account of this dark chapter in chinese history. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading hungry ghosts. This is the unforgettable story of the centurys greatest human rights disaster, in which more people died than in stalins purges and the holocaust put together. Maos secret famine is a book written by jasper becker, the beijing bureau chief for the south china morning post.