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Rot

A History of the Irish Famine

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Rot

By: Padraic X. Scanlan
Narrated by: Stephen Hogan
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 'A vigorous and engaging new study of the Irish famine . . . Richly underpinned by research in contemporary sources and firmly rooted in historical scholarship.' Fintan O'Toole

'A vivid, polemical narrative that does justice to victims and explains the ideologies that worsened the disaster.' Irish Independent

'Scanlan's history of the ''Great Hunger' and its repercussions is meticulous, measured and damning.' Financial Times

'Mr. Scanlan's haunting and terrible book is undoubtedly a history title of the year.' Wall Street Journal

In the 1800s, as Britain became the world's most powerful industrial empire, Ireland starved. The Great Famine fractured long-held assumptions about political economy and 'civilisation', threatening disorder in Britain. Ireland was a laboratory for empire, shaping British ideas about colonisation, population, ecology and work.

In Rot, Padraic Scanlan reinterprets the history of this time and the result is a revelatory account of Ireland's Great Famine. In the first half of the nineteenth century, nowhere in Europe - or the world - did the working poor depend as completely on potatoes as in Ireland. To many British observers, potatoes were evidence of a lack of modernity among the Irish. However, Ireland before the famine more closely resembled capitalism's future than its past. While poverty before and during the Great Famine was often blamed on Irish backwardness, it did in fact stem from the British Empire's embrace of modern capitalism.

Uncovering the disaster's roots in Britain's deep imperial faith in markets and capitalism, Rot reshapes our understanding of the Famine and its tragic legacy.©2025 Padraic X. Scanlan (P)2025 Hachette Audio UK 19th Century Europe Great Britain Modern United Kingdom Capitalism Imperialism
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I didn't know much about the famine before this but was shocked at this story. Millions of lives were ruined by Victorian and British faith in lassiez faire and refusal to interfere with the belief that markets are best left alone. It reminds me of the neoliberalism of today that any form of government action is considered counter productive by billionaire and right wing press that has led to England becoming a country of dirty rivers and huge inequality.

I never knew Ireland was growing loads of food but that it was getting exported while people were starving. This book is a strong argument for anticolonialism and empathy in politics. Great narration too.

Brilliantly written and narrated

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Essentially an economic history of the Irish Famine and a brilliant, thrilling, heartbreaking book superbly read. Scanlan is a brilliant popular historian and the equal of Adam Hochschild. This is a riveting account and I salute the research and compelling style of this great author.

Brilliant

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