Just the Facts: Book Discussion Recap from April 24

The breeze last night was more reminiscent of March than April, but twelve people still braved the elements to attend the book discussion. Many thanks, as always, for their presence.

Our book last night was The Graves are Walking: the great famine and the saga of the Irish people by John Kelly. The potato was imported into Ireland to cheaply and efficiently feed the poor Irish-Catholic peasants. The potato was easy to grow and contained most of the nutrients needed to support the population of tenant farmers. When the potato crop was small, the people suffered. But when the crop failed, as it did in the 1840s, the effects were devastating. The famine of the 1840s resulted in the deaths of more than one million men, women and children. Two million more were forced to emigrate under mostly horrific conditions. It took over a century for Ireland to recover. The government in London tried to help, sending aid, forcing landlords to pay poor taxes and buying food on the world market. Their efforts failed to alleviate the suffering. Or were their efforts really an attempt at nation building, to create in Ireland a market economy from what had been a subsistence one? Or was the British government taking advantage of the famine to foster an “accidental” genocide? These and other questions made for an interesting conversation and evening.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday, May 22, 2014 at 7:00 pm. The book to be discussed, The Woman behind the New Deal: the life of Frances Perkins, F.D.R.’s secretary of labor and his moral conscience by Kirsten Downey, is available at the Circulation Desk. All are welcome.