Black Potatoes

Black Potatoes
By Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Houghton Mifflin, 2001. 184 pgs. Young Adult Nonfiction

In 1845, a black cloud settled over much of Ireland, destroying the potato crop. Many of the Irish population were extremely poor and relied on the cheap and easy to produce potato crop to survive; while they might grow other crops such as wheat, those crops were immediately used to pay rent to English landlords. With no food and no money, the Irish were desperate for relief; however, the British government was slow to respond, and what little relief did come was inadequate to handle the extent of the problem. As the crop failures continued over the next several years, approximately 1 million Irish citizens died while another 2 million emigrated, leaving behind their beloved island.

Bartoletti does a great job with this book showing how it was only the potato failure that led to the famine; the system of landlords, lack of rights for Irish Catholics and other political forces also heavily impacted who had access to food. This book is very informative but not overly dense, which makes it a great read for teens or for adults who want to get some general information about the Irish famine.

AE