During the famine of 1845-50 over one million of the Irish population died in a crop failure unprecedented in the history of modern Europe. Dependency on the potato as the main source of food brought widespread starvation and disease throughout Ireland and was followed by mass emigration to Britain, North America, Canada and Australia. A century and a half later, the famine is a catastrophe that has never been forgotten, a pivotal point in the destiny of modern Ireland. Beautifully reproduced documentary illustrations and eyewitness testimonies interwoven with a gripping text, bring this disaster vividly to life.

Author Biography

Peter Gray taught Irish and British history at the University of Southampton 1996-2005, before returning to Belfast to take up the positions of Professor of Modern Irish History and Director of Research in Irish and British History at Queens University Belfast. In 2004 Professor Gray was the Burns Library Visiting Professor in Irish Studies at Boston College, MA, and was Eaton visiting fellow at the University of New Brunswick in 2015. He was chair of the Royal Irish Academy's National Committee for the Historical Sciences 2007-10, and is a member of the editorial board of Irish Historical Studies. He was Head of the School of History and Anthropology 2010-15 and is currently Acting Director of the Institute of Irish Studies at QUB.