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Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World (The Essential Mike Davis) Paperback – Illustrated, 17 Jan. 2017

by Mike Davis (Author)

4.5 176 ratings

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Examining a series of El Nino-induced droughts and the famines that they spawned around the globe in the last third of the nineteenth-century, Mike Davis discloses the intimate, baleful relationship between imperial arrogance and natural incident that combined to produce some of the worst tragedies in human history. Late Victorian Holocausts focuses on three zones of drought and subsequent famine: India, Northern China and Northeastern Brazil. All were affected by the same global climatic factors that caused massive crop failures, and all experienced brutal famines that decimated local populations. But the effects of drought were magnified in each case because of singularly destructive policies promulgated by different ruling elites. Davis argues that the seeds of underdevelopment in what later became known as the Third World were sown in this era of High Imperialism, as the price for capitalist modernization was paid in the currency of millions of peasants' lives.

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Print length

480 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Verso
Publication date

17 Jan. 2017
Dimensions

12.85 x 2.9 x 19.79 cm
ISBN-10

1784786624
ISBN-13

978-1784786625
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Review

Davis has given us a book of substantial contemporary relevance as well as great historical interest...this highly informative book foes well beyond its immediate focus. --Amartya Sen, The New York Times

Davis's range is stunning...He combines political economy, meteorology, and ecology with vivid narratives to create a book that is both a gripping read and a major conceptual achievement. Lots of us talk about writing 'world history' and 'interdisciplinary history': here is the genuine article. --Kenneth Pomeranz, author of The Great Divergence

The global climate meets a globalizing political economy, the fundamentals of one clashing with the fundamentalisms of the other. Mike Davis tells the story with zest, anger, and insight. -- Stephen J. Pyne, author of World Fire

Davis, a brilliant maverick scholar, sets the triumph of the late-nineteenth-century Western imperialism in the context of catastrophic El Niño weather patterns at that time ... This is groundbreaking, mind-stretching stuff. -- Independent

Late Victorian Holocausts will redefine the way we think about the European colonial project. After reading this, I defy even the most ardent nationalist to feel proud of the so-called 'achievements' of empire. -- Observer

Devastating. -- San Francisco Chronicle

Eloquent and passionate, this is a veritable Black Book of liberal capitalism. -- Tariq Ali

Generations of historians largely ignored the implications [of the great famines of the late nineteenth century] and until recently dismissed them as 'climatic accidents'...Late Victorian Holocausts proves them wrong. -- Los Angeles Times (Best Books of 2001)

Wide ranging and compelling...a remarkable achievement. -- Times Literary Supplement

A masterly account of climatic, economic and colonial history. -- New Scientist

A hero of the Left, Davis is part polemicist, part historian, and all Marxist. -- Dale Peck, Village Voice

The catalogue of cruelty Davis has unearthed is jaw-dropping...Late Victorian Holocausts is as ugly as it is compelling. -- Sukhdev Sandhu, Guardian

Controversial, comprehensive, and compelling, this book is megahistory at its most fascinating―a monument to times past, but hopefully not a predictor of future disasters. -- Foreign Affairs

Devastating. --San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author

Mike Davis was a meat cutter and truck driver, as well as an activist for Students for a Democratic Society before starting his academic career. He is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship Award and the Lannan Literary Award. His many books on history and the city, including the bestselling City of Quartz, have been critically acclaimed across the world.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Verso; Reprint edition (17 Jan. 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1784786624
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1784786625
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.85 x 2.9 x 19.79 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 271,328 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 233 in Popular Science Weather

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4.5 176 ratings

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Mike Davis

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Mike Davis is the author of several books including City of Quartz, Ecology of Fear, Late Victorian Holocausts, Planet of Slums, and Magical Urbanism. He was recently awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. He lives in Papa'aloa, Hawaii.

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docread

The adverse conjunction of Imperialism and Climatic changes in the 19th Century in the Global South.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 November 2023

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Social and Cultural Explanations have been advanced as causes for the Economic stagnation and chronic poverty in the Global South. The author breaks with the prevalent views by focusing on two important factors. The adverse impact of the weather with ENSO (El Nino-Southern Oscillation) that led to to three successive waves of global and prolonged droughts resulting in harvest failures and widespread starvation in the 1870’s and 1890’s in India, China, Brazil, North Africa and the Horn of Africa. The famines were usually followed by destructive epidemics of plague, cholera, small pox , dysentery further decimating millions from the ranks of the starving masses. The other crucial factor was the brutal foisting of market economy on poor villagers in the wake of the new order of Victorian liberal Imperialism. With its Malthusian beliefs and laissez faire economics , it undermined the safety net systems sustaining the traditional village communities as they were no longer able to buy the corn at rocketing prices dictated by the free market. The callous indifference of the Colonial rulers like Lord Lytton in India, obsessed by balancing budgets and an antipathy to price control, magnified the consequences of Nature devastations, while Indian corn from less affected regions continued to be exported to the British Isles. The colonial authorities in India neglected the upkeep of reservoirs and tanks as well as small scale irrigation improvements in the regions dependent on rainfall. They destroyed the corporate social mechanisms that had allowed villages to undertake irrigation works by themselves. Their actions led ultimately to the disintegration of communitarian institutions.

This is a magisterial account of the interplay of the ecological and the political factors that are at the root of underdevelopment and can be traced back to the last decades of the 19th Century precipitated by climatic disasters . Not only it is a detailed scholarly account buttressed by tables and statistics ; demographic, economic and meteorological , and contemporary photos of starvation. It is ultimately an angry indictment of the reckless cruelty at the core of the European colonial project towards the vulnerable rural populations. A welcome antidote to the apologists and defenders of Imperialism like Professors Biggar and Ferguson. A classic of its genre and a compulsive read for those interested in the impact of climatic changes on the global South.

One person found this helpful

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Cliff Meister

Hidden History

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 January 2024

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This detailed exploration of colonial history and the burred abuse of the world by greedy psychopaths completely changes how you will see your own nations role in ruining the planet.
The fact these murderous genocide do permeate western history and culture and that they have been intentionally deleted from our education shines an essential light on so much that’s wrong with the world today.
Difficult and uncomfortable reading that details the global slaughter of planet wide populations for profit that have given many modern families the privileges they continue to exploit to the detriment of all.
This should be essential learning in all nations.

One person found this helpful

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David Howsam

Exact research and daming evidence.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 April 2014

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A powerful accusation of Imperial actions in the late 19th Century. Documented and researched with great care and written in reserved and extravagant prose. The calm and detailed description of the terrible suffering that accompanied British Rule in India, Africa and China, focuses ones attention with greater clarity than if this had been written in a much more aggressive style. Not that there isn't anger here, but just that Mike Davis surely feels that the evidence speaks for itself. Which it does. For anyone really interested in the debate about the so-called 'Third World' and the western powers culpability this is an essential though harrowing read.

7 people found this helpful

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Tilak

Victorian criminality in empire

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2015

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Excellent study, but based on secondary sources and occasionally lacking wider context and comparative perspective.

2 people found this helpful

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tiger moto

Untold Imperial British History

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 December 2011

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Read this book to educate yourself,how famines were caused by a combination of adverse weather conditions and imperial policies,leading to the death of millions.
I live in the U.K. and every week there is usually program about how bad Hitler was.If you read this book you will learn that British Imperial policies were responsible for more deaths than Hitler,yet i see no programs telling this.
The u.k. is blind to its historical past and it's own crimes,but likes to condemn the crimes of others.

13 people found this helpful

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Alonso

A book for any politician and head of family

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 September 2015

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This fine book is very well researched, it should be on the desk of every politicians, as this history will repeat itself in the future.Be warned

One person found this helpful

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Teslaitues

Indispensable

Reviewed in France on 21 June 2019

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Livre essentiel pour décrire le massacre des populations par les colons anglais

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johan

A must read for everyone! Ever wondered why there ...

Reviewed in Canada on 1 October 2014

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A must read for everyone! Ever wondered why there is such a huge disparity between the Developed and the developing world? This book explains why. I was moved to tears at parts.

Richard Reese (author of Understanding Sustainability)

Climate change in the real world

Reviewed in the United States on 6 August 2012

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In the years 1876-1879 and 1896-1902 between 12.2 and 29.3 million died of famine in India. In the years 1876-1879 and 1896-1900 between 19.5 and 30 million died of famine in China. In the same period, an estimated 2 million died in Brazil. Famine hit these three nations the hardest, but many other nations were also affected. In the US, churches organized to send relief to hungry farmers in the Dakotas and western Kansas.

Mike Davis wrote about these famines in his book Late Victorian Holocausts. The famines occurred in regions slammed by severe drought. The droughts have been linked to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a major factor in global weather patterns.

Droughts have been common throughout history, and agricultural societies have commonly prepared for them by creating emergency reserves of stored grain. Because of political shifts in many regions, these safety nets were in poor condition during the late Victorian droughts. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution came a new mode of economic thinking that frowned on setting aside significant wealth for insurance against disaster. It was more profitable to sell the grain today, pocket the cash, and worry about tomorrow's problems tomorrow. Peasants were expendable.

The Qing dynasty in China believed that subsistence was a human right, and it had relief management systems in place to reduce the toll of famines during drought years or floods. By the late Victorian era, conflicts with colonial powers had drained the wealth of the Qing government, so it was incapable of effectively responding to the catastrophic droughts.

Prior to the British colonization of India, the Moguls had a similar system for responding to famine. The British, on the other hand, were cruel masters (as they had been during the 1845 famine in Ireland). Food was widely available, but few could afford the inflated prices. While millions were starving, they exported Indian wheat. They outlawed donations of private relief. They forbid the Pariahs from foraging for forest foods, leading to 155,000 deaths. They created relief camps where the starving received inadequate rations, and 94 percent died. Very civilized chaps, eh?

The hungry hordes in Brazil were the victims of their own corrupt government, which had disposed of grain reserves. Brazil was not a colony of Britain, but English investors and creditors played a powerful role in the economy, turning Brazil into an "informal colony" that was kept permanently in debt.

Davis argued that the millions of deaths were largely a deliberate "holocaust" rather than a spell of bad luck, because political actions were a primary factor behind the high mortality rates. He also argued that this holocaust played a role in the creation of the Third World. In the eighteenth century, Europe did not have the highest standard of living. The biggest manufacturing districts were in India and China. Their workers ate better, had lower unemployment, and often earned more than workers in Europe. Literacy rates were higher, including women.

One of Davis's primary objectives was to spank capitalism, colonialism, and the hideous overseers of the British Empire. There has been lively discussion in the reader feedback at Amazon, and a number of critics have questioned the way in which Davis assigned blame for the massive famines. For me, the book had important messages: (1) Droughts happen. (2) Agricultural societies are highly vulnerable to droughts. (3) Famines commonly follow droughts. (4) Famines can be horrific.

When rains ended an Indian drought in 1878, the mosquito population exploded, and hundreds of thousands of malnourished survivors died of malaria. Meanwhile, locusts gobbled up the growing young plants. Hungry peasants murdered many creditors who threatened foreclosure. Then came gangs of armed tax collectors. Hungry wild animals became very aggressive, dragging away the weak, screaming. In the Madras Deccan, "the only well-fed part of the local population were the pariah dogs, `fat as sheep,' that feasted on the bodies of dead children."

In China, the flesh of the starved was sold at markets for four cents a pound. People sold their children to buy food. Husbands ate their wives. Parents ate their children. Children ate their parents. Thousands of thieves were executed. At refugee camps, many perished from disease. If too many refugees accumulated, they were simply massacred. In some regions, relief took more than a year to arrive.

Davis's vivid and extensive descriptions of famine times remind an increasingly obese society that we are living in a temporary and abnormal bubble of cheap and abundant calories. Importantly, he puts a human face on the consequences of climate change, a subject usually presented in purely abstract form: parts per million, degrees Celsius, and colorful computer-generated charts, graphs, and maps.

Near the end of the book, Davis gives us a big, fat, juicy discussion on the history of agriculture and ecological catastrophe in China. People who remain in denial about the inherent destructiveness of agriculture typically point to China as a glowing example of 4,000 years of happy sustainable low-impact organic farming. Wrong, wrong, wrong! This chapter provides a powerful cure for those who suffer from such embarrassing naughty fantasies.

The late Victorian droughts happened at a time when the world population was less than 1.4 billion. Today, it's over 7 billion, and growing by 70 million per year. Cropland area per capita is shrinking, and soil health is diminishing. Energy prices are rising, and water usage for irrigation is foolishly unsustainable. We're getting close to Peak Food. World grain production per capita peaked in 1984, at 342 kilograms per person. World grain stocks (stored grain) peaked in 1986, and have been declining since then.

On 24 July 2012, the venerable Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute published a warning in The Guardian. "The world is in serious trouble on the food front." World grain stocks are currently "dangerously low." "Time is running out. The world may be much closer to an unmanageable food shortage -- replete with soaring food prices, spreading food unrest, and ultimately political instability -- than most people realize."

For me, the main message of this book was a powerful warning about the huge risks of agriculture, and its insanely destructive companion, overpopulation. The famines discussed in this book were not a freak event in history. Famine has been a common, normal, periodic occurrence in virtually all agricultural societies, from the Cradle of Civilization to today.

As the collapse of industrial civilization proceeds and life slows down, opportunities to live more in balance with nature will emerge. Clever societies will carefully limit population size, and phase out their dependence on farming. Un-clever societies will continue to breed like there's no tomorrow, beat their ecosystems to death, and hippity-hop down the Dinosaur Trail.

Richard Adrian Reese
Author of What Is Sustainable

18 people found this helpful

Helmut Baltes

Beste Empfehlung

Reviewed in Germany on 14 December 2012

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Das Buch ist verständlich geschrieben und auch für einen Fremdsprachler lesbar. Was ist den von Gottes Gnaden gesalbten Verbrechern nur eingefallen im Umgang mit anderen Völkern? Den ganzen europäischen Adel sollte mach postum vor das Kriegsverbrechertribunal zerren. Statt dessen freuen wir uns über bunte Bilder und stolze Eltern.

2 people found this helpful

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M. A. Krul

Imperialism: the deadliest stage of capitalism

Reviewed in the United States on 26 May 2007

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Marx wrote about capital's destruction of the old social organizations of the societies it enters into, either originally or by force, that "the history of this, their expropriation, is written in the annals of mankind in letters of blood and fire". Mike Davis demonstrates that this is, indeed, the case, and not just for Western Europe either. Focusing on the case examples of Brazil, India and China, Davis shows irrefutably how weather fluctuations, known as El Ninõ phenomena, combined with free traderism, colonialism and capitalist organization to create a series of harvest failures, famines, epidemics and regressions compared to which the Biblical plagues are child's play.

The first part of the book describes the various mass famines that occurred in northeastern Brazil, central and northern India, and central and northern China in the period of the apogee of colonialism, namely roughly 1870-1910. This matter is certainly not for the light of heart: the scale of the famines is such that they far exceed anything ever experienced under Mao or Stalin combined, and the indifference and repression of the the British and other colonialist elites in the face of so much suffering is staggering, evoking parallels with nazism. Of course Mike Davis' usual ill-chosen title attempts to make precisely this comparison, which rather weakens instead of reinforcing the effect of his book, but the facts speak for themselves regardless. Nothing can describe the effect it must have had on the Indian population to be forced to pay for British wars in Afghanistan and South Africa as well as a tremendously grand Jubilee for Queen Victoria, while in the meantime tens of millions of peasants were dying, in some district leading to reductions in population of almost two-thirds. Such is the effect of Whiggish history still that these facts are almost not known at all, and are never taught in high school history books. But everywhere capitalism goes, it leaves behind such corpses.

The second part of the book is a rather technical discussion of weather patterns, especially the oscillation known as ENSO, leading to the El Niño phenomena. Davis also delves into the scientific discussions of these phenomena both during the period of capitalist famines and in contemporary meteorology. This part of the book is furnished with strong statistical data, which will primarily be of interest to people engaged in studying weather patterns, as well as agriculturists because of the importance of these patterns for monsoons etc.

The third and final part of the book picks up where the first one left off, and goes into more detail about the social organizations of Brazil, India and China both before the colonialist period and during it. Davis produces interesting evidence to the account that not only was the average standard of living for the majority of the people quite higher in India and China than in Europe during the 18th Century, their degree of productivity in terms of manufacturing was higher as well. This to directly contradict the many Whiggish histories, like Landes and others, who posit the societies of India and China as stagnant and unproductive from the start. Instead, Mike Davis hypothesizes that the real reason for the sudden collapse in effectivity and productivity of India and China is the military involvement of (mainly) the British in these regions. Subjugating India entirely to a system of hyper-exploitation for the sole benefit of paying for the huge British military and for the interests of the factory manufacturers and traders in Manchester and London (whose direct influence over Indian Raj policy is shockingly large); and in China forcing the government into such large-scale wars and interventions against the British as to make the Qing dynasty go entirely bankrupt and unable to pay for the vast infrastructure and reserve funds, as well as destroying the most effective administation the world had ever seen, the Imperial magistrature system, from the inside via opium trade corruption. Davis makes plausible, if not quite proven, therefore that the downfall of India and China as powers in the 19th Century was exogenous rather than endogenous to these societies.

But what is most important about this book is the enormity of what it describes: the incredibly large-scale death of the subjugated and exploited peoples of what would later form the 'Third' or developing world. By even modest estimates the various preventable famines in China during 1850-1900 alone must have killed some 30-60 million people, and in India probably again anywhere between 30 and 85 million. Then if we add to that the deaths in Brazil (not exploited by foreign powers this time, but by their own capitalist plutocracy), of various African nations, as well as the costs of rebellion and civil war caused by the social disintegration resulting from invasion and colonialism, we get quite a pretty picture: indeed the 20th Century can hardly be considered bloodier than the 19th was. And this is called, by historians, the "Belle Époque"! One wonders if those who write so-called "Black Books of Communism" etc. are even aware of the lethality of capital.

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Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World (The Essential Mike Davis) Paperback – Illustrated, 17 Jan. 2017

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