The Great Famine

By Ciaran O Murchadha,

Book cover of The Great Famine: Ireland's Agony 1845-1852

Book description

This is an engaging and moving account of this most destructive event in Irish history. Over one million people died in the Great Famine, and more than one million more emigrated on the coffin ships to America and beyond. Drawing on contemporary eyewitness accounts and diaries, the book charts the…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Great Famine as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Where the Atlas is a very large book compiled by a team of academics, O'Murchadha's smaller volume covers much the same ground.

He provides some context by opening with a portrait of Ireland before the onset of famine and concluding with a picture of Ireland in the years after. It is made human by the many anecdotes featuring the experiences of particular individulals and families from his native County Clare.

O'Murchadha is highly critical of the government's response to the famine, offering scathing critiques of the Poor Law, the Rate-In-Aid Act, and the beaurocratisation of relief, nevertheless his tone is…

If you love The Great Famine...

Ad

Book cover of Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS

Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS By Amy Carney,

When I was writing this book, several of my friends jokingly called it the Nazi baby book, with one insisting it would make a great title. Nazi Babies – admittedly, that is a catchy title, but that’s not exactly what my book is about. SS babies would be slightly more…

Want books like The Great Famine?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Great Famine.

Browse books like The Great Famine

Book cover of Atlas of the Great Irish Famine
Book cover of Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850
Book cover of Receiving Erin's Children: Philadelphia, Liverpool, and the Irish Famine Migration, 1845-1855

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,592

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like The Great Famine, you might also like...

Book cover of An Italian Feast: The Celebrated Provincial Cuisines of Italy from Como to Palermo

An Italian Feast By Clifford A. Wright,

An Italian Feast celebrates the cuisines of the Italian provinces from Como to Palermo. A culinary guide and book of ready reference meant to be the most comprehensive book on Italian cuisine, and it includes over 800 recipes from the 109 provinces of Italy's 20 regions.

An Italian Feast is…

Book cover of The Deviant Prison: Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary and the Origins of America's Modern Penal System, 1829-1913

The Deviant Prison By Ashley Rubin,

What were America's first prisons like? How did penal reformers, prison administrators, and politicians deal with the challenges of confining human beings in long-term captivity as punishment--what they saw as a humane intervention?

The Deviant Prison centers on one early prison: Eastern State Penitentiary. Built in Philadelphia, one of the…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the Great Famine in Ireland, potatoes, and Ireland?

Potatoes 20 books
Ireland 311 books