Famine
Famine: A Short History
by Cormac Ó Gráda
Those who have suffered famines have more vivid terms for them. The Irish called 1740 to 1741 “the year of the slaughter.” The Indians named a 1790 shortage the “skulls famine.” The Kenyans described famine as “the scramble,” and in southern Africa, in the early 19th century, one famine was referred to as the Madhlatule, translated as, “eat what you can, and say nothing.”
Wide-ranging details like these fill Cormac Ó Gráda’s Famine, a loaded, heavy word itself, evocative of deep human suffering. The …
