Dikötter's 2010 masterpiece catalogues the tragedy and the cover-up of the hideous famine caused by the Great Leap Forward—Mao Zedong's disastrous attempt to jumpstart industrialization in China in the late 1950s. Combining facts, figures, and harrowing human stories, Dikötter puts the death toll at 45 million—three times higher than the official number—and compares the tragedy to other mass deaths, such as the Holocaust. His compelling reassessment of one of the darkest episodes of the twentieth century forced scholars to re-examine Mao's legacy and take account of every painful detail of the suffering it caused.