The Irish potato famine of the 1840s perhaps the most appalling event of the Victorian era killed over a million people & drove as many more to emigrate to America. It may not have been the result of deliberate government policy yet British obtuseness short-sightedness & ignorance
- & stubborn commitment to laissez-faire solutions
- largely caused the disaster & prevented any serious efforts to relieve suffering. The continuing impact on Anglo-Irish relations was incalculable the immediate human cost almost inconceivable. In this vivid & disturbing book Cecil Woodham-Smith provides the definitive account. A moving & terrible book. It combines great literary power with great learning. It explains much in modern Ireland
- & in modern America
- D.W. Brogan.