Late Victorian Holocausts

Late Victorian Holocausts:
El Niño Famines and
the Making of the Third World
Author	Mike Davis
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Subject	Environmental economics, economic history
Publisher	Verso
Publication date	December 2000
Media type	Hardback & paperback
Pages	464 pp (hardback edition)
ISBN	1-85984-739-0 (Hardback), ISBN 1-85984-382-4 (Paperback)
Dewey Decimal	363.8/09172/4 21
LC Class	HC79.F3 .D38 2001

Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World is a book by Mike Davis about the connection between political economy and global climate patterns, particularly the impact of colonialism and the introduction of capitalism during the El Niño–Southern Oscillation related famines of 1876–1878, 1896–1897, and 1899–1902 across multiple continents. The book's main conclusion is that the deaths of 30–60 million people killed in famines all over the world during the later part of the 19th century were caused by the laissez-faire and Malthusian economic ideology of the colonial governments.

A controversial book,^[1] it has received both praise and criticism. Praise generally focused on Davis' analysis of the Third World^[2] and its origins,^[3] while, conversely, his assertion the Indian famines which took place under colonial rule were intentionally engineered by the British has been criticized as extreme^[4] and conspiracist.^[5]

^ Maxwell, Kenneth (2002). "El Nino in History: Storming Through the Ages; Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino, Famines, and the Making of the Third World". Foreign Affairs. ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
^ Leitch, Richard (2008). "Book Review: Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World By Mike Davis. New York: Verso, 2001. 470 pp. $20.00 paper". Review of Radical Political Economics. 40 (3): 384–387. doi:10.1177/0486613408319853. ISSN 0486-6134. S2CID 154514190.
^ Magdoff, Fred (2005). "Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World. By Mike Davis 2001. Verso, London and New York. US$27, ISBN 1-85984-739-0, cloth". Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 20 (3): 190–192. doi:10.1079/RAF2005109. ISSN 1742-1713. S2CID 154616192.
^ Studer, Roman (2015). The Great Divergence Reconsidered: Europe, India, and the Rise to Global Economic Power. Cambridge University Press. p. 158. ISBN 978-1-316-23976-6.
^ Smil, Vaclav (2001). "The Shadow of Droughts' Deaths: Late Victorian Holocausts El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World by Mike Davis. Verso, London, 2001. 474 pp. $27, C$38, £20. ISBN 1-85984-739-0. (Book Review)". Science. 292 (5517): 644–645. doi:10.1126/science.1060130. ISSN 0036-8075. JSTOR 3083525. S2CID 152563001.

[1] Maxwell, Kenneth (2002). "El Nino in History: Storming Through the Ages; Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino, Famines, and the Making of the Third World". Foreign Affairs. ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved 5 January 2023.

[2] Leitch, Richard (2008). "Book Review: Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World By Mike Davis. New York: Verso, 2001. 470 pp. $20.00 paper". Review of Radical Political Economics. 40 (3): 384–387. doi:10.1177/0486613408319853. ISSN 0486-6134. S2CID 154514190.

[3] Magdoff, Fred (2005). "Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World. By Mike Davis 2001. Verso, London and New York. US$27, ISBN 1-85984-739-0, cloth". Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 20 (3): 190–192. doi:10.1079/RAF2005109. ISSN 1742-1713. S2CID 154616192.

[4] Studer, Roman (2015). The Great Divergence Reconsidered: Europe, India, and the Rise to Global Economic Power. Cambridge University Press. p. 158. ISBN 978-1-316-23976-6.

[5] Smil, Vaclav (2001). "The Shadow of Droughts' Deaths: Late Victorian Holocausts El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World by Mike Davis. Verso, London, 2001. 474 pp. $27, C$38, £20. ISBN 1-85984-739-0. (Book Review)". Science. 292 (5517): 644–645. doi:10.1126/science.1060130. ISSN 0036-8075. JSTOR 3083525. S2CID 152563001.

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