The author is Cormac Ó Gráda, a famous Irish economic historian, and the subtitle is The Sicilian Casualties of the Two World Wars. This is the first and most frightening topic to discuss. Here is one episode:
The death rate from starvation in Greece was probably higher than in any other European country except the Soviet Union and Poland. After its invasion of the Axis forces in April-June 1941, the British Navy, which controlled the Mediterranean, blockaded the sea route to Greece. Greece was one of the Nazi-controlled economies that relied on exports for most of its food. The theft of meat and dairy cattle from the area around Athens for military use soon followed the occupation. Soon, essential food became scarce, especially in Athens, leading to the worst famine of 1941-42. The capital and its port city of Piraeus and other islands were hit hard. The context was one of excessive inflation, Allied embargo, and government-sponsored theft by occupation forces.
This important book will make my best fiction list of the year.
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