this post was submitted on 06 May 2025
27 points (90.9% liked)
Books
11803 readers
90 users here now
Book reader community.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Dikötter's books are historically revisionist trash. To engage with them critically you need to read actual histories first, otherwise you will come away with wrong and unscholarly ideas - such as that Mao killed 100 million people.
@TheOubliette @doctorfail Thank you for your unique unsupported opinion of this book!
Dikötter is widely criticized by historians and sociologists. He's only praised in mainstream lay press by people who don't know anything about this topic. He wrote for that lay audience, not academic, because it is easier to launder his bias and dishonesty to an audience with no familiarity on this topic, which is why I said to become informed before reading him in order to avoud miseducation.
You can feel free to read those histories and criticisms, as you should always do before accepting or recommending a pop history book.
@TheOubliette Thanks.
np!