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 <i>The Great Divergence</i>,
The 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 <i>World Fire</i>,
Davis, 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
<i>Late Victorian Holocausts</i> 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 Ali,
Generations of historians largely ignored the implications [of the great famines of the late nineteenth century] and until recently dismissed them as 'climatic accidents'...<i>Late Victorian Holocausts</i> 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 . <i>Late Victorian Holocausts</i> 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