Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #282273 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Customer Reviews

Essential for anyone who wants to understand irish history
It is impossible not to be left overwhelmned by the sheer abject misery and hopelessness of the people in this story. It is cleverly written as it blends historical fact with a fictional family and community.
This book makes it easier to understand how over a million people were left to die and a million more emigrated, even though Ireland was actually exporting food during this period. Even though people were dying of hunger, they were still evicted onto the street for non payment of rent by landlords living in mansions; starving people were refused food by shopkeepers as they had no money to pay. One is shocked by the smallmindedness and greed of the middleclass Irish as much as the greed of the landlord class.
This book should be compulsory reading in every school in Ireland and UK as it helps to explain the political mindset that developed in post famine Ireland. It also illustrates how such a massive human tragedy was allowed to happen

Famine
A wonderful, harrowing tale of life in the West of Ireland in the period leading up to and including the Famine.Superb insight into how the people 'actually' lived during this dark period. A must!

This is a great book. Absolutely Fabulous.
I bought this book last year when I was on vacation in Ireland. I simply loved it. It describes very well the history of Ireland during the period of the famine and the story is wonderful. To read in one go. Sensational.