I’m starting to think about my next book, and I’m leaning towards either White Malice by Susan Williams or Late Victorian Holocausts by Mike Davis.
(I’m also kind of considering Losurdo’s Non-Violence: the History Behind the Myth but I’m reading some Losurdo right now and thinking of switching it up.)
Has anyone read either? Anyone read both? Thoughts?
I’ve read both, and think they are both excellent. The Williams book is way more fun to read. The Davis book was a bit of a slog in the middle, but it is worth getting through because the later sections are fascinating. If you have the focus necessary for dryly observing the deaths of many millions of people across several continents, now is the time for the Davis book. The Williams book is also a sad story, but is presented in a more engaging manner.
Whenever you get around to finishing the Williams book, I can suggest these two books on 20th century African history:
“In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story” by John Stockwell. This is a memoir of a CIA agent who claims to have left the agency in disgust after the revelations of the Church Committee. It covers CIA involvement in Angola during their decolonization struggle. Obviously taking a history lesson from a CIA agent is problematic, but the book is worth reading. It’s short too. Fewer than 300 pages.
“Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa” by Jason K. Stearns. This book covers the Congo war in the 90s. After reading Williams, you will be able to be see how the actions of the US and Europe in the 1960s set up the conditions for this enormous tragedy decades later. Stearns does not provide this context on his own. I’m not crazy about this author either, but there just haven’t been many books published in English on this massive and important war.
Ok great, thanks for the extra recommendations comrade!
I think I’ll read them both eventually but based on your descriptions I think I’ll start with Mike Davis. That’s exciting, I’ve always wanted to get around to him.
Very cool. The section describing pre-WWI famine events provides important context for understanding the scale and significance of later famine events in People’s China and the USSR. The section on sunspot science helps show that the politicization of agricultural science did not begin with Vavilov and Lysenko. I don’t think that Davis intended his book to be read in this way, but it’s hard to ignore.
I read Planet of Slums too, but I didn’t find it to be nearly as impactful. The LA book is supposed to be good. I haven’t heard anything about his new book on epidemics.
I haven’t read any of those, but White Malice is such a badass title. That has my vote.