Black '47 and beyond : the great Irish famine in history, economy, and memory /

Ireland's foremost economic historian again examines the central event in modern Irish history: the Great Famine, 1845-50. Like O Grada's pathbreaking Ireland before and after the Famine (CH Oct'88), this book consists of discrete but interrelated chapters that cover a broad range of topics: the famine's "context," its demographic effects, its impact on Dublin, how it has been constructed in the folk memory, relief strategies, and who, if anyone, gained from the calamity. O Grada (Univ. College Dublin) approaches the famine from an interdisciplinary perspective, employing the techniques of economists, historians, demographers, and folklorists. He also puts the famine in a comparative and global context whenever possible, relating it to similar catastrophes in earlier times as well as the present. The result is one of the most challenging, original, and readable accounts of the subject to have appeared in the past decade. It contains a fund of ideas and information for both experts and those with only the most general knowledge of the famine. Lengthy, up-to-date bibliography and numerous charts and graphs enhance the text. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. G. Owens; Huron College

O Gráda (Ireland: A New Economic History, Clarendon, 1994), a professor of economics at University College, Dublin, examines the Irish potato famine through a different prism. Besides historical narratives, he compares population loss and famine relief in 1847 to other famines, including the recent ones in Sudan and Ethiopia. He compares Irish emigration to other ethnic groups under famine conditions, examines the admission records of Dublin hospitals, and takes a demographic look at Five Points, NY, where many Irish immigrants landed, all to determine who actually suffered and how severe the situation was. He concludes that Black '47 was horrific. What made it so bad was Ireland's climate, just right for the blight, and the famine's draining impact on the Irish population and economy, which did not recover as other countries have. This is a commendable addition to any academic library and deserves a place in academic collections alongside classics like Cecil Woodham-Smith's The Great Hunger (Penguin, 1995. reprint).‘Robert C. Moore, Raytheon Electronic Systems, Sudbury, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.