The Famine Plot

England's Role in Ireland's Greatest Tragedy

By: Tim Pat Coogan

Narrated by: Roger Clark

During a Biblical seven years in the middle of the 19th century, Ireland experienced the worst disaster a nation could suffer. Fully a quarter of its citizens either perished from starvation or emigrated in what came to be known as Gorta Mor, the Great Hunger. Waves of hungry peasants fled across the Atlantic to the United States, with so many dying en route that it was said "you could walk dry shod to America on their bodies".

In this sweeping history, Ireland's best-known historian, Tim Pat Coogan, tackles the dark history of the Irish Famine and argues that it constituted one of the first acts of genocide. In what the Boston Globe calls "his greatest achievement", Coogan shows how the British government hid behind the smoke screen of laissez faire economics, the invocation of divine providence, and a carefully orchestrated publicity campaign, allowing more than a million people to die agonizing deaths and driving a further million into emigration.

Unflinching in depicting the evidence, Coogan presents a vivid and horrifying picture of a catastrophe that shook the 19th century and finally calls to account those responsible.

©2012 Tim Pat Coogan (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Many intriguing points [are] made in this book...the minutes spark and sputter with a deep, lingering, well-cherished rage." (Peter Behrens, The Washington Post)

Amazing book...

Well worth listening to, perhaps thrice. The plight and pity of Ireland's people is horrendous from the sounds of things. It's no womder that when they came to America and had to compete against the enslaves African, they showed signs of hatred and bias. Hurt people, hurt people. All in all, this book was amazing. So much history to take in. Phenomenal reading.

Good stuff

Very informative. Eye opening about England’s response to the Irish crisis. Nothing short of genocidal.

Lots of History

I've always been curious about The Potato Famine and this book definitely sated that curiosity. If anyone wants to understand History without being told some BS excuse. I suggest giving this a listen / read. It's not meant as an attack or anything like that. It's just multiple accounts throughout The Famine that no one knows about. Again it's a really long but well informed book. The narrative of the whole book kept me focused which is incredible due to the list of dates, important persons and locations mentioned.

A tragic story

This is a very blunt and in your face assessment of the great tragedy in Irish history known as the great famine. Great Britain was guilty of much misuse and abuse during its colonial Empire, but the very calculated starving of the Irish during the great famine may write as the lowest. It’s an excellent book. I think for anybody with an interest in British and Irish history, along with wanting more information about Irish and immigration to North America, this is a really excellent book.

Old Wounds reopened

the offer meticulously and accurately describes the callous nature and abandonment of Ireland to Minds using capitalism as a Prelude an excuse for genocide in the English wig Parliament.

very informational

I liked seeing how many of our beliefs inthe US come directly from the British way of thinking. for example- poverty is deserved because only lazy people are poor and they deserve what they get because they are idolators. another - we are better, superior to them so we are doing the world a favor by letting them die. I didn't like the fairly monotone narrator.

Factually detailed but a story not well told

There is a lot of detailed information in this book. However, the first few chapters are written ( or perhaps narrated) with such venom against the English oppressors that exacerbated the effects of the blight that it detracts somewhat from the information imparted. Putting this aside, there is a wealth of (seemingly) well researched information that anyone wanting to learn about the late 19th century famine in Ireland, its causes and its global impact will discover nuggets of knowledge. I rate this book highly for the learning opportunity it provides as someone wanting to learn about their ancestry, but the writing style and narrator are distracting in their delivery style in the early parts of the book. I will undoubtedly listen to this book again as I piece together my history and become more familiar with the protagonists of the subjugation of Ireland in the late 1800s.

Overview

This book a much better read...I would recommend it as a filler
to those who need or want a sharper blade to dig deeper into the famine. It cuts deeper with knowledge about people and life before and after the famine. It alerts the reader to the good, the bad, and failure of faith, society and government to help a poor people. People who could help themselves but were held back because of their faith and education.

Genocide, clearly genocide

The author relates the known facts of the British government’s plan to remove as many of the Irish people from Ireland either by death by starvation or packed into coffin ships.

Powerful

Stark and brutally honest retelling of the historical events that encompassed what was undoubtedly an Irish Genocide.