Famine is a horrifying situation every person and place in this world fear to experience. Can you just imagine the constant fumbling of stomachs of the citizens but nobody can solve the problem? It is a nightmare having to sleep for God knows how many days without consuming food and water, not because they don’t want to but because they cannot find any resources to get food.
All throughout the history, there have been hungers that happened in different places in the world. Literature, moreover, didn’t fail to document and create heartfelt stories from these horrific events. That said, here are some of the most touching books about famine and hunger that you should not miss reading.
The Great Hunger: Ireland 1845-1849 by Cecil Woodham-Smith
In 1962, The Great hunger: Ireland 1845-1849 by Cecil Woodham-Smith was published. Hamish Hamilton is the publisher for UK while Harper and Row is the publisher for US. The book centers on one of the most known famine that happened in the history of the world, which is the great famine in Ireland. It has been also referred to as the Irish potato famine in the Victorian period. The death toll reached more than a million, and a lot of residents were pushed by the situation to migrate to America. The famine was not planned by the government; instead it became the result of the ignorance, carelessness, and neglect of the British and those factors hindered the efforts to mend the disaster.
The Face of Hunger: Reflections on a Famine in Ethiopia by Byron Conner
Christian Faith Publishing, Inc. published The Face of Hunger: Reflections on a Famine in Ethiopia by Byron Conner, M.D. last October 3, 2016. The book is under the genre memoir and is a captivating representation of a catastrophic benevolent crisis which appeared on TV that was drove by Dr. Conner and his family on their missionary journey to Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. The famine in the land has put the lives of people at great risk. The estimated death toll for the crisis is 400,000 to 500,000 from years 1983 to 1985. There were also a lot of citizens that were left penniless and broke. There was a strong answer that has emerged in order to support the citizens of Ethiopia. A lot of organizations heed to the call for help regarding the crisis and they aid the people with the basic needs, such as food, clothing, medicines, and blankets.
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Laura Hillenbrand is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption. It was published in 2010 by Random House, and was classified as a nonfiction biography. It follows the story of the former Olympic track athlete Louis Zamperini, who survived a plane crash and thrived for more than a month on a raft. He was a natural survivor for he also survived becoming a prisoner of war in three cruel Japanese camps for POW for over two years. After their plane crashed, Zamperini and his mates was ought to face a new problem which is hunger and survival. They thoroughly look for ways on how to get food and fresh water. On their first day of survival, they tried to call for help by signaling a plane but they were unlucky. They started to catch a bird and they luckily did, but they felt ill after eating it. So, they use the bird’s flesh as bait for fishing. They successfully caught a fish and tried to eat it.
Mao’s Great Famine by Frank Dikötter
In September of 2010, Frank Dikötter’s book titled Mao’s Great Famine was published. Walker & Company published the US edition and hardcover while Bloomsbury Publishing published the UK hardcover edition and US softcover edition. The story focuses on the 1958-1962 Great Famine that happened in the Republic of China. The land was ruled by Mao Zedong when the crisis happened. Moreover, the story is mainly based on the 4-year-old research in the newly unlocked nonurban, regional, and city archives. The author characterized the crisis as the worst disaster that happened in Chinese history and of anywhere in the world.
Oliver’s Twist 