Books in Review
Briefly Noted (October 1997)
Copyright
(c) 1997 First Things 76 (October 1997):
69-74.
Hungry Ghosts: Mao’s Secret Famine. By Jasper Becker. Free Press. 352 pp. $25.
A story that both grips and chills. To this day, the great
famine of 1958 to 1962, in which more than thirty million
Chinese were killed by Maoist madness, is overshadowed by the
Cultural Revolution that followed. Some Western "experts" on
China were ignorant of the famine; many others knew about it
and, fearful they would be denied access to China, publicly
denied it. In this connection, John K. Fairbank of Harvard,
the dean of American sinologists, brought particular shame
upon himself and those he influenced. The truth was told then
by maverick scholars such as Ivan and Miriam London, who paid
a steep price in the academy for their impertinence. Becker’s
very readable account of mass suffering, including widespread
cannibalism, underscores the frightening fragility of social
orders. Far from being giants on the stage of history, Mao and
his ilk come across as adolescent egomaniacs, puffed up with
fantasies about forcing the transition to the Communist utopia
within a few months, and totally indifferent to the millions
of lives sacrificed on the altar of their make-believe. Highly
recommended to readers with strong stomachs.
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