The Bengal Famine: How Winston Churchill Turned His Back on Millions of Starving People during World War II
Written by Kelly Mass
Narrated by Digital Voice Marcus G
()
About this audiobook
This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
History is often penned by those who emerge victorious, and it's no exception that British and American historians have documented the narrative of India during the colonial era. While Hitler's atrocities in World War II are widely acknowledged, the magnitude of suffering endured by India under British rule is often overlooked.
Lasting over two centuries, the British Raj in India witnessed numerous devastating famines, resulting in an estimated thirty million deaths.
The British administration's approach to India was consistently harsh, with the country enduring a series of famines during their rule. Prior to British control, India's indigenous rulers swiftly responded to famine threats, employing various strategies to mitigate their impact. However, under British governance, famines became more frequent and severe, exacerbated by delayed monsoons and exploitative colonial policies that prioritized British interests over the welfare of the Indian population.
One of the most catastrophic famines occurred in 1943, known as the Bengal Famine, where over 3.5 million people perished and survivors resorted to consuming grass and even resorting to cannibalism. The Bengal Famine was exacerbated by the Japanese invasion of Burma during World War II, leading to a severe food shortage in British India's Bengal Province.
Despite early warnings and signs of food scarcity, the authorities downplayed the situation, dismissing reports of shortages as politically motivated agitation. This negligence exacerbated the suffering of millions of people, highlighting the callousness of British colonial rule in India.
More audiobooks from Kelly Mass
Eleanor of Aquitaine: One of the Wealthiest and Most Influential Women in western Europe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Michelangelo Buonarotti: The Sculptures, Paintings, and Biography of a Renaissance Artist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ancient Japan: Shinto, Ninjas, Samurai, and History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rudolf Hoess: The Sadistic, German SS War Criminal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pol Pot: The Murderous Leader of the Khmer Rouge regime Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Phoenicians: History of the Ancient Civilization of Phoenicia Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shinto of Ancient Japan: Shinto Shrines, Gods, Temples, and Beliefs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cherokee: History and Culture of the Native American Tribes Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dark Ages: Historical Facts about the Plague, the Inquisition, and the Knights from the Middle Ages Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Joseph Stalin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Actors and Actresses: Biographies of Betty Davis, Grace Kelly, Hedy Lamarr, Joan Crawford, Josephine Baker, and Hollywood’s History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQuetzalcoatl: The Mesoamerican Myth of the Feathered Serpent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lizzie Borden: Took an Axe and Gave Her Mother Forty Whacks Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Edmund Kemper: The Tall, Infamous Serial Killer and Necrophile Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Psychopath Killers: Cold-Hearted Murderers Like Pablo Escobar and Edmund Kemper Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Great Britain: History of Scotland, Ireland, and England Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Josef Mengele: The Chief Doctor at Birkenau Who Did Human Experiments Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5History Biographies: Marie Curie, Nostradamus, and Alan Turing Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France before the French Revolution Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Biafra: History and Atrocities of the Nigerian Civil War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Huguenots: Resistance, Beliefs, and Persecution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mao Zedong: The Cultural Revolution and the Communist Party Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ottoman Empire: History of Constantinople and the Rise and Fall of the Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History of Bali: Background of Its Culture, Powers and Economic Forces Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHuns and Mongols: Historical Facts about Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sadists: World War II Torturers, Generals and Cruel Nazi Scientists Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The British Raj: The History of the British in India and Pakistan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Evil People: Some of the Most Cruel People in History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Babylonians: The History of the Babylonian and Assyrian Empires Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to The Bengal Famine
Related audiobooks
The Famine Plot: England's Role in Ireland's Greatest Tragedy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Taste of Empire: How Britain's Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFor All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Holodomor: The History and Legacy of the Ukrainian Famine Engineered by the Soviet Union Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Standing at Armageddon: A Grassroots History of the Progressive Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The American Military: A Concise History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Amitav Ghosh's Smoke and Ashes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorld's First Superpower: From Empire to Commonwealth, 1901–Present Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Philips War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Maroons: The History and Legacy of African Descendants Who Formed Free Settlements across the Americas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gullah: The History and Legacy of the African American Ethnic Group in the American Southeast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Food Guide for War Service at Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNative American History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfrican American History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Heritage History of the American Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of Irish Organized Crime: Blood, Bombs, and Tears for the Homeland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hard Won Victories: A History of the United States at War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Royal British Legion: 90 Years of Heroes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Asian History For You
Midnight in Chernobyl: The Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gulag: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Short History of Russia: How the World's Largest Country Invented Itself, from the Pagans to Putin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Memoirs of a Wartime Interpreter: From the Battle for Moscow to Hitler's Bunker Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dressed for a Dance in the Snow: Women's Voices from the Gulag Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cold War: A New History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Krakatoa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hard Road Out: One Woman’s Escape From North Korea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the Ruins of Empire: The Japanese Surrender and the Battle for Postwar Asia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Spy Who Knew Too Much: An Ex-CIA Officer’s Quest Through a Legacy of Betrayal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shogun: The Life and Times of Tokugawa Ieyasu: Japan's Greatest Ruler Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Japan's Infamous Unit 731: Firsthand Accounts of Japan's Wartime Human Experimentation Program Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido Shoshinshu of Taira Shigesuke Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain: History's Unknown Chapters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Bengal Famine
0 ratings0 reviews