The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700–2100: Europe, America, and the Third World (Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time, Series Number 38)

The book starts with an examination of living conditions preceding and during the Industrial Revolution, based on data developed in Britain and France in the last few decades that shows life expectancy and mortality for the past three to four centuries. Parallel research also reconstructed estimates of the food available for both countries and some limited data on height of adult males. The data shows that food supply was insufficient and this is also reflected in stunted heights. The problem of hunger was so bad, particularly in France, that people did not get enough calories to do much productive work, and were confined to bed in the winter as a means of conserving calories. People in the US fared better, having adequate nourishment, greatly outliving people in Britain and France.Though diseases and occasional famines took a toll, chronic malnutrition was a factor in disease susceptibility but chronic malnutrition itself was by far the major factor in mortality. This argument is reinforced with graphs and tables of relative mortality versus height and body mass index.Times series show a secular decline in mortality beginning around 1750 and continuing until the early 20th Century, although the scatter in the data was also markedly reduced (around the time of industrialization, railroads, steamships and canals) probably due to reduced impact of famines and epidemics.The books concludes with a discussion of societal effects of the great increase in life expectancy and the problem of health care for the elderly.After reading this book you will give thanks before every meal!For a contemporary account see: Friedrich Engles: The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844As for how we managed to escape from hunger see: Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production by Vaclav Smil

A concise and interesting book describing Fogel's distinctive approach to economic history. Fogel and his colleagues used proxy measures of well being, notably height, to assess the general standards of living over the last couple of centuries. Fogel makes a number of interesting points. He describes improved nutrition and a positive interaction between improved nutrition and susceptibility to infectious disease as a major driver of improved human welfare and through improved productivity, improved economic performance. In concert with some other scholars, he emphasizes nutrition and health over the lifespan with antenatal nutrition being particularly important. Fogel's analysis produces some interesting results. Parts of the 19th century often inferred to have rising standards of living probably didn't as shown by static to declining average male heights. Conversely, the Great Depression may have been less impactful than usually assumed as there wasn't a major impact on Fogel's measures, likely because of major public health and other measures in preceding decades. The later part of the book deals with some of Fogel's projections of the future, including some predictions about rising life expectancy and how to deal with aging populations. I suspect that Fogel would have been surprised and disappointed by the stagnant and in come cases falling life expectancy in some sectors of the US.

I got this book as a recommendation [...] and it was a lot more interesting and useful than I had any right to expect. Very well researched study that considers how populations have changed over time and why. If you are worried at all about population growth and the like, you must read this book.

You cannot imagine what is the west if you don't read this book! Our history was a matter of survival until recently and the civilization of wealth.

Thank you!

Although it is very thorough, the graphs are sometimes a bit confusing

This is the first book written by an economist that I have ever read. I always had a rather stereotyped preconceived notion that books by economists are either incomprehensible or sleep inducing or both.Quelle Suprise! and Lucky lucky me! Professor Fogel has impressed the hell out of me.Not only is this book a masterpiece of scholarship but it is absolutely rivetting. I could not put it down! There isn't a day that goes by when something learned from this book comes up through connections I make in regards to other subjects I learn or read about.For example, the New York Times had an article before Christmas about 18th and 19th century French peasants spending their winter months in bed, sleeping as much as possible, only getting up to feed and water their animals. I remembered from Prof. Fogel's book that the French peasants never had enough to eat to grow to optimum body height and build. Of course they'd spend the coldest months 'hibernating'. They needed to save whatever food they had on basic survival.I could go on and on but prefer to write a review and not rewrite the book.I know it's a big concept and a big word, but for me this is a seminal work. Thanks Professor Fogel.