num_pages: 96
description: (During the years from 1845 to 1848 there was a famine in Ireland. As far as we can judge one and a half million people died, so that it was one of the biggest disasters of modern times. We tend to think that famines as great as this happen only in underdeveloped parts of the world such as India and Africa, but as you will see, this one happened in our part of the world not so very long ago. Your grandparents could easily have known someone who was alive when it happened. Moreover in 1801 The British Parliament had passed an Act of Union, making Ireland part of Great Britain, so that anyone living in the British Isles has to admit that the famine was in his own country. There had always been trouble between England and Ireland, but the famine made it much worse. When you read this book you will understand one of the reasons why so many of the Irish feel bitterly towards the English at the present day.From time to lime you will find this book mentions sums of money. It is not easy to compare modern values with those of the 1840s, but it may help you if you remember that in those days a farm worker earned about ten shillings (fifty pence) a week, and a skilled craftsman about £1.50.Many of the illustrations in this book have been taken from the Illustrated London News. This was a weekly magazine which started in 1842 and contained articles dealing with contemporary events and news. Photography had only just begun in the 1840s and was not commonly used, so the Illustrated London Mews employed artists to draw-scenes and reconstructions of events for their readers. Many went to Ireland to draw what they saw of the famine for the magazine so that people in England could get some idea of what conditions were like)
language: English
title: The Potato Famine and the Irish Emigrants
titlecomplete: The Potato Famine and the Irish Emigrants (Then and There Series)
publisher: Longman Publishing Group