Late Victorian Holocausts

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 DivergenceThe 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 FireDavis, 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 AliGenerations 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 *

Mike Davis is the author of many books including Planet of Slums, City of Quartz, Ecology of Fear, Late Victorian Holocausts, and Magical Urbanism. He was recently awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.