Eating People Is Wrong, and Other Essays on Famine, Its Past, and Its Future Hardcover - 2015

From the rear cover

"Cormac O Grada has written a beautiful book about a painful and difficult subject, famines. In these five essays, he shows how combining the skills and common sense of the economist with the subtlety and sensitivity of the historian can produce fascinating and deep insights into a topic that few people today think about but that historians and observers of the developing world cannot ignore."--Joel Mokyr, Northwestern University

"Cormac O Grada's collection of essays, Eating People Is Wrong, demonstrates his extraordinary range. His assessment of the incidence of cannibalism in famine times, the subject of the essay that gives the collection its title, will stimulate many other scholars to reconsider their views on this controversial topic. And the other essays, which concentrate on the economic history of famine, in various regions and at various times, sustain his reputation as one of the leading researchers of these calamities."--William Chester Jordan, Princeton University

"After war, famines are perhaps the greatest act of inhumanity perpetrated by our species. As Cormac O Grada shows, famines happen because we let them happen and they bring out the best and worst in people, from cannibalism and the abandonment of children to the heroic sacrifices of parents to protect their children. In clear and open language, O Grada presents the true picture of famines."--Peter Walker, dean of the Falk School of Sustainability, Chatham University

"This is a superb book that should become a classic. Cormac O Grada brings extraordinary social scientific rigor to the history of famine."--Stephen Wheatcroft, University of Melbourne

"Cormac O Grada is today's leading authority on famine and this shows in the high quality of this book and its impressive ability to innovate and further our understanding of the subject. This is an important contribution to economic history, history, economic development, and demography, but it will also appeal to general readers interested in famine."--Guido Alfani, Bocconi University, Milan

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Citations

• Choice, 07/01/2015, Page 0