A review by mediumsquare
Mao's Great Famine: The History Of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-62 by Frank Dikötter

Did not finish book. Stopped at 70%.

Mao's Great Famine contains engrossing and well-researched historical content presented in a relatively matter-of-fact manner. It lays out a solid overarching understanding of what was happening at the top levels of the Chinese Communist Party from Mao's first big dreams of a Great Leap to the leadership's ultimate uncovering of the horrors that actually occurred in China's villages. The book continues to detail countless scenes of horrific acts against humanity by humanity for absolutely no reason. Truly no reason other than to please the higher-ups and to meet unreachable quotas. Each chapter highlights yet another set of people who suffered deeply beyond words. (e.g. elderly, children, factory workers)

I did not finish due to any fault of the author, but rather could not stomach another chapter of real-life nightmare material.