The Taste of War and the Battle for Food Hardcover - 2012
by Collingham, Lizzie
- Used
- Hardcover
A sweeping history, showing the surprising role that food played in World War II and its aftermath.
In this richly detailed history, Lizzie Collingham reveals how control of food and its production shaped the events of World War II. At least twenty million people died from starvation, malnutrition, and its associated diseases during the war, a number equal to the nineteen and a half million military deaths. Tracing the interaction between food and strategy on both the military and home fronts, this original account demonstrates how access to food drove both Nazi Germany and imperial Japan to occupation.
With the deprivation of World War I fresh in German minds, the pursuit of resources directly contributed to the Nazi decision to murder hundreds of thousands of "useless eaters" in Europe. Yet as The Taste of War brings to light, war-related famine was not caused by the Axis powers alone. Allied mismanagement and neglect brought its own devastation. The British rationing system is often celebrated for having done a remarkably good job, with limited resources, of feeding the British people. But it often goes unrecognized that the British government was also responsible for the food security of its colonial subjects, and it was here that it often failed, most spectacularly in Bengal, where three million Indians died of preventable man-made famine.
Unscathed by the ravages of domestic warfare, the United States was the only country with enough wealth to keep food controls to a minimum. The agricultural sector in fact strengthened significantly during the war, and domestic wartime food production ultimately led to the establishment of a global pattern of production and distribution. American-made food spread and shaped our food habits and tastes in the postwar world. These changes, combined with the advent of nutritional science, have created the food landscape we know today, where-despite increased knowledge on the importance of diet to health-the industrialized food we eat has the potential to make us sick. A work of great scope, The Taste of War connects the broad sweep of history to its intimate impact upon the lives of individuals.
Description
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Details
- Title The Taste of War and the Battle for Food
- Author Collingham, Lizzie
- Binding Hardcover
- Edition 1St Edition
- Condition Used: Good
- Pages 656
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Penguin Press, New York
- Date 2012-03-29
- Illustrated Yes
- Bookseller's Inventory # SONG1594203296
- ISBN 9781594203299 / 1594203296
- Weight 2 lbs (0.91 kg)
- Dimensions 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.5 in (23.11 x 14.99 x 3.81 cm)
- Ages 18 to UP years
- Grade levels 13 - UP
- Library of Congress subjects Food habits - History - 20th century, War and society - History - 20th century
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 2011043783
- Dewey Decimal Code 940.531
Summary
A New York Times Notable Book of 2012
Food, and in particular the lack of it, was central to the experience of World War II. In this richly detailed and engaging history, Lizzie Collingham establishes how control of food and its production is crucial to total war. How were the imperial ambitions of Germany and Japan - ambitions which sowed the seeds of war - informed by a desire for self-sufficiency in food production? How was the outcome of the war affected by the decisions that the Allies and the Axis took over how to feed their troops? And how did the distinctive ideologies of the different combatant countries determine their attitudes towards those they had to feed?
Tracing the interaction between food and strategy, on both the military and home fronts, this gripping, original account demonstrates how the issue of access to food was a driving force within Nazi policy and contributed to the decision to murder hundreds of thousands of 'useless eaters' in Europe. Focusing on both the winners and losers in the battle for food, The Taste of War brings to light the striking fact that war-related hunger and famine was not only caused by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, but was also the result of Allied mismanagement and neglect, particularly in India, Africa and China.
American dominance both during and after the war was not only a result of the United States' immense industrial production but also of its abundance of food. This book traces the establishment of a global pattern of food production and distribution and shows how the war subsequently promoted the pervasive influence of American food habits and tastes in the post-war world. A work of great scope, The Taste of War connects the broad sweep of history to its intimate impact upon the lives of individuals.
