In addition to a preface and a short section on definitions, the book is broken into four parts: The Great Drought, 1876–1878 El Niño and the New Imperialism, 1888–1902 Decyphering ENSO and The Political Ecology of Famine. The book's main conclusion is that the deaths of 30–60 million people killed in famines all over the world during the later part of the 19th century were caused by laissez-faire and Malthusian economic ideology of the colonial governments. It focuses on how colonialism and capitalism in Colonial India and elsewhere increased rural poverty and hunger while economic policies exacerbated famine. The book won the World History Association Book Prize in 2002.

by the theological application of the sacred principles of Smith, Bentham and Mill. They died in the golden age of Liberal Capitalism indeed, many were murdered. Millions died, not outside the 'modern world system', but in the very process of being forcibly incorporated into its economic and political structures. By comparing ENSO episodes in different time periods and across countries, Davis explores the impact of colonialism and the introduction of capitalism, and the relation with famine in particular. This book explores the impact of colonialism and the introduction of capitalism during the El Niño–Southern Oscillation related famines of 1876–1878, 1896–1897, and 1899–1902, in India, China, Brazil, Ethiopia, Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines and New Caledonia. Victims of the Great Indian Famine of 1876–1878 Praise generally focused on Davis' analysis of the Third World and its origins, while, conversely, his assertion the Indian famines which took place under colonial rule were intentionally engineered by the British has been criticized as extreme and conspiracist.

The book's main conclusion is that the deaths of 30–60 million people killed in famines all over the world during the later part of the 19th century were caused by the laissez-faire and Malthusian economic ideology of the colonial governments.Ī controversial book, it has received both praise and criticism. Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World is a book by Mike Davis about the connection between political economy and global climate patterns, particularly the impact of colonialism and the introduction of capitalism during the El Niño–Southern Oscillation related famines of 1876–1878, 1896–1897, and 1899–1902 across multiple continents.

Victorian holocausts