In September 1845, the farmers of Ireland made a chilling discovery—much of their potato crop was black, mushy, and rotten. The crop failure marked the beginning of the Great Irish Famine, one of the greatest humanitarian crises of the 19th century. With some 3 million Irish people dependent on the potato for their very survival, starvation and epidemic disease soon devastated the population. During the famine years, at least 1 million people died, and another 1 million left their homeland for good. Was the famine the inevitable result of an unprecedented natural disaster? Or was the British government's neglect of the Irish poor to blame for the mass death and destruction? The Great Irish Famine brings readers to the mid-1800s to explore the conditions that surrounded the event and its effect on Ireland that can still be felt today.