This book was read for my Global Topics: International Human Rights course at NYU.

I greatly enjoyed reading this book, though I don't think enjoyed is the right term for the topic of the text itself... This was one of the text we read for my International Human Rights course, and it was a truly eye-opening read. The point of the book is the reveal the truth and change the narrative around the topic of famines and mass starvation throughout history. As he points out towards the beginning, as was a large part of our class discussion, we typically associate famine with natural causes, such as a drought causing a lack of crops. This, as excellently outlined in Mass Starvation, is inherently false. Mass starvation and famine is a political issue, brought about by oppressive regimes to inflict power and control over certain populations. Mass starvation and famine is a form of genocide. De Waal does an excellent job outlining these points in a rhetoric that is understandable. He gives various examples throughout the book, as to also provide significant amounts of evidence that famine is more relevant and prominent than we think. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is remotely interested in this topic.