Last Weapons: Hunger Strikes and Fasts in the British Empire, 1890-1948 by Kevin Grant, the Edgar B. Graves Professor of History, was recently published by the University of California Press.
In his book, Grant shows how the use of hunger strikes and fasts in political protest became a global phenomenon. Exploring the proliferation of hunger as a form of protest between the late-19th and mid-20th centuries, he traces this radical tactic as it spread through trans-imperial networks among revolutionaries and civil-rights activists from Russia to Britain to Ireland to India and beyond.
Reviewer Seth Koven of Rutgers University observes, “In a brilliant mobilization of small details, forgotten actors, and myriad stories, Kevin Grant masterfully reconstructs scenes of politico-ethical combat otherwise hidden behind prison walls. It is a beautiful book, demonstrating a rich command of theoretical and historical scholarship.”
Faisal Devji of St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, characterizes the book as "a deeply humane meditation on the meaning of life in politics."
