Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Famine Plot: England's Role in Ireland's Greatest Tragedy
    The Famine Plot: England's Role in Ireland's Greatest Tragedy
    The Famine Plot: England's Role in Ireland's Greatest Tragedy
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Famine Plot: England's Role in Ireland's Greatest Tragedy

    Written by Tim Pat Coogan

    Narrated by Roger Clark

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    During a Biblical seven years in the middle of the nineteenth 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 nineteenth century and finally calls to account those responsible.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateAug 29, 2017
    ISBN9781541480940
    Author

    Tim Pat Coogan

    Tim Pat Coogan is Ireland's best-known historical writer. His 1990 biography of Michael Collins rekindled interest in Collins and his era. He is also the author of The IRA, Long Fellow, Long Shadow, 1916: The Mornings After and The Twelve Apostles.

    Related to The Famine Plot

    Related audiobooks

    European History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Great Hunger

      Jan 13, 2023

      The Great Hunger
      4 min read

    • Article

      Waves Of Migration

      Dec 13, 2022

      Waves Of Migration
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Irish Potato Famine

      Sep 3, 2020

      The Potato Famine of 1845-49 was a watershed moment in Britain’s long history with Ireland, and the story of how a million deaths from mostly preventable disease and hunger happened on the doorstep of the world’s wealthiest country still shocks. Almo

      1 min read

    • Article

      Better Angels At Work

      May 4, 2021

      Better Angels At Work
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Corn Laws

      Feb 18, 2021

      The Corn Laws
      5 min read

    • Article

      CELEBRATING our Shared Roots

      Jul 15, 2022

      CELEBRATING our Shared Roots
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Hamilton Quadruplets

      Apr 11, 2020

      The Hamilton Quadruplets
      2 min read

    • Article

      “Good God, How Much Bloody Flux Must A People Bear Before You Provide Them With Food?”

      Apr 16, 2020

      For 30 years in the first half of the 19th century, Britain was obsessed with the price of bread. Waves of unrest swept the country as bad harvests, food shortages and dire living conditions stalked the poorest in society. Calls for parliamentary ref

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Boyne’s Troubled Legacy

      Apr 19, 2018

      The Boyne’s Troubled Legacy
      2 min read

    • Article

      Anniversaries

      Feb 17, 2022

      Anniversaries
      4 min read

    • Article

      Assisted Migration

      Aug 27, 2020

      THE NUMBER OF CONVICTS sent to Australia increased sharply in the 1820s, lifting the proportion in New South Wales in 1828 to 46 per cent of the population – up from 30 per cent two decades earlier. At the same time, Australia was becoming attractive

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Census 1821

      Jan 12, 2021

      The Census 1821
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Global Legacy

      Mar 18, 2021

      Ireland has long been a country of emigrants. In particular the 19th and 20th centuries saw a huge dispersal, with around 8 million leaving between 1800 and 1920 for new lives in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US. Most often the stor

      2 min read

    • Article

      Maori History

      Oct 8, 2020

      Maori History
      2 min read

    • Article

      Fathers Of The Republic

      Sep 28, 2023

      Fathers Of The Republic
      6 min read

    • Article

      …THE FAMINE OF THE 1690s

      Aug 14, 2021

      The 1690s have conventionally been seen as a peculiarly unhappy time for Scotland. The horrors of the first Jacobite rising (1689-91) and the massacre of Glencoe (1692) are part of this narrative, as is the catastrophe of the Darien disaster (1699-17

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Road To Partition

      Oct 28, 2021

      The Road To Partition
      9 min read

    • Article

      THE STORY OF The 1921 Census

      Jan 11, 2022

      THE STORY OF The 1921 Census
      4 min read

    • Article

      Healing Divisions

      May 18, 2022

      THE sun is shining on the gentle fields of Northern Ireland. The countryside is at its most beautiful and the Mountains of Mourne and Skerry Hill particularly inviting. It seems hard to believe that this most lovely land has seen some of the most vic

      2 min read

    • Article

      “England Was Seen As A Pariah State, Ruled By Regicidal Rebels Who’d Publicly Executed Their King”

      Sep 30, 2021

      ON THE HistoryExtra PODCAST Devil-Land: England Under Siege 1588-1688 by Clare Jackson (Allen Lane, 688 pages, £35) Ellie CawtHorne: Devil-Land looks at England from 1588 to 1688. Why do you think this is such a fascinating 100-year period of English

      9 min read

    • Article

      Luck Of The Irish

      Feb 16, 2021

      Luck Of The Irish
      10 min read

    • Article

      Agricultural Labourers

      May 4, 2021

      Agricultural Labourers
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Sorrows Of Spike Island

      Dec 5, 2019

      The Sorrows Of Spike Island
      11 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Famine Plot

    3.5/5

    44 ratings13 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      The Famine Plot is a history of extreme suffering. From 1845 to about 1852 Ireland lost a large amount of its population to famine and the policies of the British government. Tim Pat Coogan contends that food exports from Ireland – at the height of the famine, and for profit – resulted in a much larger loss of life. Combined with the British government’s policy of indifference to the tragedy in Ireland, millions emigrated or died. Coogan makes the argument that this was an act of genocide. It is documented that the British viewed the depopulation of Ireland as a positive turn of events – no matter how it came about. Ireland was seen as a source of food for Britain. And they wanted beef, not potatoes. He shows how the Brits purposely dragged their heels in providing assistance because they saw “the opportunity presented by the Famine to clear a surplus population off un-economically worked land.” Coogan doesn’t shy from documenting the horror of the deaths caused by famine and sickness, or from talking about the British “laissez-faire” policies that exacerbated the misery. The damage lasted long after the famine was over. As a result of depopulation, the West of Ireland suffered from ‘The diseases of bachelordom, loneliness, and alcoholism.”It’s not possible to read this history without getting angry and also drawing comparisons with current efforts to limit social programs. Although he says “it would be impossible to properly chronicle the frenzy and despair that impelled the Irish out of Ireland during the Famine years,” Coogan has done just that. His faith in Ireland remains strong. As he concludes, “A land that could survive the Famine can survive almost anything.”
    • 4/5
      This was an accessible and engaging overview of the history and workings behind the Irish potato famine. While the premise, that England's role was that of premeditated murder on a massive scale, felt like a bit of a stretch, the book was well organized and engaging. I underlined countless bits of information. It got a little repetitive and wandering towards the end, but overall I'm thrilled with the introduction it gave me into modern Irish history and culture. I'm eager to learn more.
    • 5/5
      I went into this book believing that England's sins in the Great Famine were more of omission than commission, and left being pushed a bit closer to commission, though the author is still judging 19th century behaviour by 20th century standards. There is a pretty good case as to the real villain of the British response, a rather oily Sir Humphrey Appleby type, though some of the Irish landlords that were in the British cabinet do come in for a drubbing. Coogan also goes after "colonial cringe" type analyses of the Famine, i.e., ones that downplay the British actions. Certainly recommended, if a bit polemical.
    • 4/5
      Excellent history of the famine (not the potato famine as so often called) though by a historian who is notable for his Irish Republican sentiments; and it shows in his narrative. Could have done with some hard editing as there are a few serious mistakes (which don’t affect the narrative) and some repetition which could have been elided.
    • 5/5
      A painful and infuriating examination of the root (no pun intended) causes of the 19th century Irish potato harvest failure and the subsequent famine that changed the face of Ireland forever. Coogan is following in the footsteps of the great Cecil Woodham Smith, whose The Great Hunger laid the ultimate blame for the depth of the tragedy at the feet of the British government, which refused to provide sufficient if any relief for the millions of starving Irish. Both Woodham Smith and Coogan carefully document the ways in which British society at the time considered the Irish little better than animals, perhaps explaining but not excusing the appalling lack of intervention. Coogan goes a bit further, discussing in minute detail specific members of the British government and related staff who he feels were most responsible for the extent of the suffering. It's a difficult book to read at time, with its heart-searing descriptions of desperate Irish peasants and its rage-inducing condemnation of British governmental attitudes. Well worth reading for anyone who wants to dig deeper (pun again not intended) into this dark time in Anglo-Irish relations.
    • 4/5
      I'm not really sure what to say about this book. On the one hand, it's great to have all of this information clearly presented in one place. On the other hand, most people with any knowledge of 19th century Irish history know that England deliberately worsened the famine; it's nothing new. Coogan repeatedly acts as if he's breaking new ground with stunning new facts. I guess if you skip his foreword and ignore his historiographical editorializing it's a pretty great book. He just gets in his own way here.
    • 5/5
      This is the book I wish I had written. This is a scholarly work, well cited and intelligent. Coogan's argument is that England's actions not only did nothing to slow the tide of famine, but actually caused the massive amount of death and suffering. He does a excellent job of supporting these views through a variety of resources. While this is a scholarly book, I don't feel that a great deal of background knowledge is necessary to enjoy this book as Coogan gives a solid foundation of events.
    • 4/5
      During the Irish potato famine of the late 1840s, a quarter of the Irish population was lost due to starvation, famine-related diseases, and emigration. Coogan makes a convincing case that the British government could have prevented much or most of the suffering and death. Lord John Russell's Whig government failed to do so in part owing to its devotion to laissez-faire economics, and in part because, as Coogan puts it, "Whig policy was directed at getting peasants off the land, and if it took mass death to achieve that objective, so be it." (p. 230) He makes a case that the actions or failures of Russell's government fall under the much later United Nations' definition of genocide.Coogan's presentation is assertative without being strident. He is certainly willing to credit English politicians, philanthropists, and historians when credit is due. Much of the text consists of facts and views gathered from highly pertinent primary historical sources. My only concern is that the text is sometimes a bit difficult to follow for readers such as myself whose knowledge of Irish history is restricted to a brief outline. While certainly not a book to read for enjoyment due to its subject matter,this is a worthy presentation on an important historical topic.
    • 4/5
      The Famine Plot by Tim Pat Coogan reads, in many places, more like the editorial page than the front page of a newspaper. It is, as are good editorials, extremely well-researched and strong in its viewpoint. It will not, however, give you all the background necessary to understand its argument, in that it assumes that you have also read a basic history first. (Though Mr. Coogan disagrees with some of these in his opening chapter as well.) As such, a reader should expect to have the author mix opinions (and sometimes insults -- well-deserved though they might be) with a more straight-forward historical narrative.The book is organized by the different ways the English attempted to deal with the Famine, rather than by chronology, which, while it makes logical sense, leads sometimes to a disjointed narrative. Some chapters, too, are stronger than others. The Souperism chapter in particular seems weak while discussing whether or not (and how) soup kitchens were used to bully a starving populace into converting to Anglican ism, while the chapter on emigration goes into an interesting digression on how Irish immigrants lived once they reached the US, Canada, or LIverpool. In all, this book would be interesting to people who are students of Irish history or are the descendants of those who survived the Famine.
    • 4/5
      I am not sure the premise of this book is completely solid, but it does raise the issues that need to be addressed. Wonderfully written.
    • 3/5
      Coogan has written an account outlining Great Britain's political response to the Irish tragedy and its evolution throughout the famine period. Coogan shows that current United Nations standards would consider Great Britain's response too be lacking in humanitarian aspects. Many thought the Irish were lazy and brought the calamity upon themselves. There was a higher population density in Ireland so the British encouraged emigration as a means of resolving overcrowding. The British simply did not see the Irish as their equals, even though they were now part of the Commonwealth. The author did mention the relief efforts of groups such as the Quakers and the problems with the workhouses. Unfortunately the narrative suffers from a lack of editing in spots as the author begins to ramble. The author also relied too heavily on secondary sources in my opinion. While he does make use of some primary ones, the vast majority of citations are to secondary works. The author does occasionally use material which he does not cite. For example, on page 2, he states "Later research showed that the West suffered not from schizophrenia but from the diseases of bachelordom, loneliness, and alcoholism." I really wanted to know which study this was because it intrigued me that they were calling bachelordom a disease. I wanted to know if this was a term used in the original study or if the author had decided it was a disease. While the author does present info that is useful to those interested in the famine, there are other books out there that do as good of a job or better, including Cecil Woodham Smith's book, The Great Hunger, 1845-1849. For those looking for more of an overview that is a quick and easy read, I recommend Susan Campbell Bartoletti's Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850. This is a marginal purchase for most persons.
    • 3/5
      The dedication of this book may be the most revealing sentence of all: "To doctors Tim Fulcher and Dave Keegan and to by daughters... and granddaughters... without whose combined efforts this book would not have happened."Tim Pat Coogan is a popular and a powerful historian; his biography of Michael Collins completely changed my understanding of the Irish fight for independence. But he is now 77 years old, and this is an old man's book. Not so much in the writing, although there are a few places where he seems to wander. Where it shows is in the anger -- the petty ranting and the willingness to vilify the "other guys."Let's face it: The Irish Potato Famine was a humanitarian tragedy, and the British government's response was utterly inadequate and foolish. On this point there can be no disagreement -- and there really isn't any need to repeat the point. The question is, Why?Coogan's answer boils down to a belief that a few British officials -- notably Charles Trevelyan -- were vile, and many of the rest were stupid. Coogan is right that these officials often stood in the way of doing what could have been done. Does that make them evil?What they were was people steeped in the tradition of privilege. They believed in a certain sort of divine order -- an order handed down by their ancestors since at least the Norman Conquest. Does this mean it was right? Of course not. There are deep logical flaws in those assumptions. But most political attitudes have deep logical flaws; I'm tempted to say that people who think enough about politics to "debug" their attitudes come to realize as a result that they cannot do enough good to justify the bruising politics brings. Even Trevelyan was not evil in the ordinary sense -- merely pig-headed. Coogan's failure to recognize that distinction makes this a difficult book for me. And his railing against Thomas Malthus -- as if Malthus had done anything other than point out a mathematical fact -- shows pig-headedness of another sort.There are also a few minor errors. On page 67, for instance, we are told that one person in 115 is 1.2% of the population. One person in 115 is 0.9% of the population. Obvious errors like this always make me wonder what un-obvious errors have slipped through.This is not to say that it is without value. Coogan's "discovery" of Trevelyan as an evil genius seems likely to stand up, at least in part; had Trevelyan acted differently, the famine might have been less drastic. But to call the whole British response a "plot" is about like calling the Black Death a conspiracy -- it was a dreadful thing, and it shows why we need a better system of governance than one where the people who shout loudest get to govern. But the Famine was the result of a dreadful blindness, not a planned genocide.Which might even be a worse thing.
    • 3/5
      Tim Pat Coogan writes of the famine mainly in terms of the policy response of the English government. His premise is that, if analyzed in light of today's sensibility, that response could be considered an act of genocide -- hence, the title "The Famine Plot". I'm not sure I completely agree that the willfulness and intent that is a requisite of genocide completely pertains here, but there's no doubt that the callous and utterly lacking reaction by England to the Irish tragedy contributed in a major way to the suffering and deaths experienced by the Irish peasantry during this horrific time. Coogan makes several thematic points: 1) the failure of the potato crop was widely held by English thinking to be an act of "providence" that was brought on by the fecklessness of the Irish themselves (hence deserved); 2) England's entirely inadequate response was motivated, at least implicitly, by the hope it would solve the land problem, i.e. diminish (through evictions, emigration and population decline) the multiplicity of small farm holdings and bring about more efficient land use; and, 3) the moral imperative of allowing above all a laisse faire, market driven approach to deal with the problem.He makes these points well and if you don't buy the notion of overt genocide you cannot deny the mind-boggling callous and imperial arrogance of the British. He maintains, and I completely agree, that the English attitude toward Ireland was in the main that of a colonial master over an inferior people.His description of "souperism" is fascinating and galling. Souperism refers to a strategy by Protestant figures to link access to famine relief with conversion by Catholics to their faith. The book suffers a little from occasional meandering, but that's a minor criticism. I would say, though, that the essential history of the famine is Cecil Woodham Smith's classic book "The Great Hunger, now fifty years-old, but a must-read.