Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The Great Irish Famine is possibly the most pivotal event/experience in modern Irish history. Its global reach and implications cannot be underestimated. In terms of mortality, it is now widely accepted that over a million people perished between the years 1845-1852 and at least one million and a quarter fled the country, the great majority to North America, some to Australia and a significant minority (0.3 million) to British cities. Ireland had been afflicted by famine before the events of the 1840s; however the Great Famine is marked by both its absolute scale and its longevity. It is also better remembered because it was the most recent and best documented famine. This atlas comprising over fifty individual chapters and case studies will provide readers with a broad range of perspectives and relevant insights into this tragic event.The atlas begins by acknowledging the impossibility of adequately representing the Great Famine or any major world famine. Yet by exploring a number of themes from a reconstruction of pre-Famine Ireland onwards to an exploration of present-day modes of remembering; by the use of over 150 highly original computer generated parish maps of population decline, social transformation and other key themes between the census years 1841 and 1851: and through the use of poetry, contemporary paintings and accounts, illustrations and modern photography, what this atlas seeks to a achieve is a greater understanding of the event and its impact and legacy. This atlas seeks to try and bear witness to the thousands and thousands of people who died and are buried in mass Famine pits or in fields and ditches, with little or nothing to remind us of their going. The centrality of the Famine workhouse as a place of destitution is also examined in depth. Likewise the atlas seeks to represent and understand the conditions and experiences of the many thousands who emigrated from Ireland in those desperate years. Included are case studies of famine emigrants in cities such as Liverpool, Glasgow, New York and Toronto. A central concern of the atlas is to seek to understand why a famine of this scale should occur in a nineteenth-century European country, albeit a country which was subject to imperial rule. In addition, it seeks to reveal in detail the working-out and varying consequences of the Famine across the island. To this end, apart from presenting an overall island-wide picture, Famine experiences and patterns will be presented separately for the four provinces. These provincial explorations will be accompanied by intimate case studies of conditions in particular localities across the provinces. The atlas also seeks to situate the Great Irish Famine in the context of a number of world famines. To achieve these goals and understandings, the atlas includes contributions from over 60 scholars who are experts in their fields - from the arts, folklore, geography, history, archaeology, Irish and English languages and literatures.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Crowley, William J. Smyth, and Mike Murphy (geography, geography emeritus, and cartographer, geography, respectively, University Coll., Cork, Ireland) have made a valuable contribution to studies of the Irish famine of the 1840s with this physically immense book that combines a classic atlas's functions with broader concerns. The editors have brought together contributors including Cormac O Grada (Ireland's Great Famine), Christine Kinnealy (A Death-Dealing Famine), and Thomas Kenneally (The Great Shame) to write on such famine-related topics as its effects at village or workhouse level. Each essay is illustrated with tables, charts, or maps created from geographic and statistical material. The relations of closely focused maps to the surrounding text is not always as clear as it might be. (A companion website where readers could dig into all the data and maps would have helped.) With mixed success, the editors have made a bold attempt to widen discussion of the famine. The latter half of the volume suggests further avenues of exploration in commemoration, folklore, and language. Throughout, this weighty volume is handsomely illustrated. VERDICT This visually appealing book, part conventional atlas, and part historical and cultural exploration, has components that will be attractive to lay readers and provocative to specialists.-Hanna Clutterbuck, Francis A. Countway Lib. of Medicine, Boston (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

As the latest in a line of impressive works coming from the geographers at the University College Cork in Ireland, this book reads less like a conventional atlas and more like an encyclopedia. With more than 50 articles, 140 original maps that offer eye-catching graphics and pinpoint accuracy derived from the cumulative effect of parish-level information, and a host of stunning photographs, images, and other visual documents, this massive volume offers a kaleidoscopic view of what has been considered to be the definitive experience of modern Irish history. Furthermore, the atlas covers an impressive array of topics, with local studies and expatriate accounts and a chronological range that runs from the often-overlooked (but almost equally calamitous) famine of 1740-41 to the ongoing incidence of mass starvation in the contemporary world. In summary, this monumental work is strongly recommended for any library collection that includes Irish history, US immigration, or studies of the developing world. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries. M. J. O'Brien Franciscan University of Steubenville

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Just when it seems that print reference books are inching toward a reliquary fate, new ones are published that belie this notion. This physically substantial volume replete with impressive color photographs, illustrations, and maps is such a source. Palpably solid and sturdy in hand, the content is equally weighty and significant, covering details of demographics, geography, history, politics, economics, and folklore surrounding the most pivotal event of Irish history. Sweeping in scope and painstaking in detail, the atlas offers multiple perspectives and insights by way of first-person oral and written accounts, poetry, art, photography, and scholarship. Organized into sections such as Population Decline and Social Transformations, Witnessing the Famine, The Scattering, Legacy, and Remembering the Famine, the volume is also complemented by numerous charts, tables, and graphs delineating various statistical aspects of the Great Famine. Examples include tables showing the size of the potato crop, mortality rates by gender, number and destination of famine emigrants, and knowledge of the Irish language by province. Smaller chapters within the sections cover interesting topics like Irish Famine Refugees and the Emergence of the Glasgow Celtic Football Club. Additionally, the book provides primary resources, which are both stark and heartbreaking. For example, a photograph of a handwritten note directs the deceased of a workhouse to be buried without coffins because of financial constraints. Another such note indicates that the destitute Irish immigrants arriving in Liverpool in 1847 are to be sent back to their homes a fate that befell 15,000 in that year alone. Though accessibly written, the volume also retains its scholarly tone, with more than 25 pages of endnotes. Overall, this resource is an example of how well done print reference can still be, and is well worth the price for all types of libraries.--Tosko, Michael Copyright 2010 Booklist