Author:Lizzie Collingham
In World War Two, 19 million people died in the conflicts across the globe. Yet in those same years, more than 20 million died from starvation and malnutrition. In The Taste of War Lizzie Collingham shows how food - and its lack - was central to the war's causes and continuation. She explores how starvation was often a deliberate governmental policy, and reveals how the necessity of feeding whole countries lead to Pearl Harbour, Germany's invasion of Russia, and the Holocaust itself.
Remarkable, powerful
—— The TimesAmazing... she makes it impossible to think of the war in the old terms
—— Daily MailFascinating, shocking ... For anyone who thought that the subject of food in the Second World War could be dispatched with a few clichés about digging for victory
—— Mail on SundayAmbitious, compelling, fascinating... uncomfortable reading if you began by believing in the possibility of a just war
—— GuardianThis fascinating calorie-centric history of the greatest conflict in world history is wholly convincing
—— Andrew RobertsA powerful and important book... One of the beauties of this book is its savage unpicking of cherished myths
—— IndependentLizzie Collingham's book possesses the notable virtue of originality...[She] has gathered many strands to pursue an important theme across a global canvas. She reminds us of the timeless truth that all human and political behaviour is relative
—— Max HastingsThe great merits of [this] book...lie in its extraordinary range...and in the entirely new perspective it throws on the Second World War
—— Bernard Potter , London Review of Books