Book description
Food, and in particular the lack of it, was central to the experience
of the Second World War. 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 wide-ranging, gripping and dazzlingly
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, this book
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.
Lizzie Collingham is the author of
Imperial Bodies: The physical
experience of the Raj and Curry: a tale of cooks and conquerors
, hailed by William Dalrymple as 'scholarly, accessible and above all
utterly original'. Having taught History at Warwick University she
became a Research Fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge. She is now an
independent scholar and writer. She has lived in Australia, France and
Germany and now lives near Cambridge with her husband and small
daughter.
