Food and War in Mid-Twentieth-Century East Asia

War has been both an agent of destruction and a catalyst for innovation. These two, at first sight contradictory, yet mutually constitutive outcomes of war-waging are particularly pronounced in twentieth-century Asia. The disarray of war may halt economic activities and render many aspects of life insignificant but the need for food cannot be ignored and the social action that it requires continues in all circumstances. This book documents the effects of war on the lives of ordinary...
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War has been both an agent of destruction and a catalyst for innovation. These two, at first sight contradictory, yet mutually constitutive outcomes of war-waging are particularly pronounced in twentieth-century Asia. The disarray of war may halt economic activities and render many aspects of life insignificant but the need for food cannot be ignored and the social action that it requires continues in all circumstances. This book documents the effects of war on the lives of ordinary people through the investigation of a variety of connections that developed between war-waging and the production, distribution, preparation and consumption of food throughout Asia since the 1930s.