Book Review; Annals of the Famine in Ireland

The recent commemoration of the great Irish Famine of 1845-1851 has yielded an array of publications: regional analyses, new and republished famine histories, studies of famine folklore and famine literature, etc. Already, one senses a certain 'famine fatigue' ensuing from this proliferation of volumes and, consequently, a regrettable and premature narrowing of the fields of study, a trend certainly reinforced by the ill-advised ending of official commemoration in the summer 1997. The republication by Lilliput press of Asenath Nicholson's eye-witness account of famine conditions in 1847 and 1848, ably edited and introduced by Maureen Murphy, is thus a welcome indication of one publisher's continuing commitment to famine historiography and restores, in a handsome and reasonably priced volume, of the most distinctive and sharply observed testimonies of the period.