Cormac O Grada unites historical research with economic theory in this original and stimulating book, which will be essential reading for all students of Irish history. Within a broadly chronological framework, Ireland offers a fresh, comprehensive examination of all the well-known puzzles of Irish economic history including the inevitability of the Famine, the role of land tenure in agricultural backwardness, and the failure of the economy to industrialize. O'Grada's account is both accessible, with technical discussion kept to a minimum, and intellectually exciting.
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The Irish Famine of 1846-50 was one of the great disasters of the nineteenth century. Cormac O Grada's concise survey puts the Famine in the context of the Irish economy, assesses the Famine itself, and discusses its many consequences. Despite a devastating food shortage, the huge death toll of one million was hardly inevitable; a less doctrinaire attitude to famine relief could perhaps have saved many lives. This book provides an up-to-date introduction to an event of major importance in the history of nineteenth-century Ireland and Britain.