Hungry Bengal : war, famine and the end of empire / / Janam Mukherjee

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910465947803321
• Autore: Mukherjee Janam
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New York, New York : , : Oxford University Press, , 2015; ©2015
• ISBN: 0-19-061848-5; 0-19-061306-8; 0-19-049218-X
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (346 p.)
• Disciplina: 954.14
• Soggetti: Famines - India - Bengal - History - 20th century; World War, 1939-1945 - Social aspects - India - Bengal; Electronic books.; Bengal (India) History 20th century
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgements; Map; Introduction: In Search of Famine; Framing Famine; Total War; "The Bengal Famine of 1943"; The Calcutta Riots; Perspective; 1. War; Food Security; Enforcing Morale; Hearts and Minds; The Countryside; Establishing Priorities; The Fortress Falls; Burmese Days; Nobody's Home; Provincial Politics and War; 2. Denial; "Denial"; The Denial Resolution; Quit India; Economic Warfare; Storm; Christmas in Calcutta; 3. Priorities; The "Steel Frame"; Imports; Starving Indians; Hunger Artist; De-control; Section 93; The Scramble for Rice; Abandoning the Basic Plan4. Famine; Food Drive; Last Ditch Denials; "Famine"; Starvation; "Sick Destitutes"; Round-ups and Resistance; Bengal in Ruins; The Good Viceroy; 5. Japan Attacks; The Forgotten Chapter; The Port of Calcutta; Japan Attacks; Damage Control; Bodies; Settling Accounts; Air Raid Damage; 6. Second Famine; Ending Famine; Whose Famine?; Governing Bengal; Imports; Famine Enquiry; Politics; The Lean Season; Disturbances; Second Famine; 7. Riots; Direct Action; Territory; Loot; Labor; Anti-Colonialism and Administrative Collapse; ; Bodies; Communalism; Conclusion; Notes; BibliographyIndex
• Sommario/riassunto: Representing both a major front in the Indian struggle against colonial rule, as well as a crucial front in the British/American conflict with Japan during World War II, Bengal stood at the crossroads of complex forces that describe an era of political uncertainty, social turmoil, and collective violence. The period (1939-1946) can be defined, above all, by three interrelated events: World War II, the Bengal famine of 1943, and the Calcutta riots of 1946. Mobilization for war began in 1939, but Britain's sense of urgency was difficult to impress upon a sceptical Indian population already chaffing under the injustices of colonial rule and grave economic hardship. This book examines this topic.