Mao's Great FamineMao's Great Famine
Score Modern
What it's about
Between 1958 and 1962, Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, an attempt to overtake Britain's economy in fifteen years, ended in the worst catastrophe in China's history, destroying tens of millions of lives. Using newly opened Communist Party archives, Frank Dikötter documents what happened.
Why it's worth reading
It won the Baillie Gifford Prize for nonfiction. It's a landmark history of one of the deadliest events of the 20th century.
You'll love it if you liked
The Gulag Archipelago
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North KoreaGood to know
It's grim, full of statistics and firsthand accounts of suffering.
By the numbers
- Readers65 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics54 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller3 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz1 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #137 of the 198 history books we rank
- #535 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #1035 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story
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Quick answers
Is Mao's Great Famine worth reading?
Yes. It won the Baillie Gifford Prize for nonfiction. It ranks #1,035 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 72.5 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Mao's Great Famine about?
Between 1958 and 1962, Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, an attempt to overtake Britain's economy in fifteen years, ended in the worst catastrophe in China's history, destroying tens of millions of lives. Using newly opened Communist Party archives, Frank Dikötter documents what happened.
How long does it take to read Mao's Great Famine?
About 11 hours (448 pages), or about 3 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What awards has Mao's Great Famine won?
Baillie Gifford Prize winner (2011).
What should I read after Mao's Great Famine?
If you liked it, try The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer or Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick.