The social horror of the famine is that it could have been prevented. The divide between rich and poor in Ireland was great.

The Irish potato famine was not caused by the lack of food but by the farm laborers' poverty. Plenty of food was available. Unfortunately, most people could not afford to buy it. The famine was the catalyst for both good and negative behavior by the people enduring starvation, well-meaning relief workers, and usually self-serving British landowners and politicians. The Irish population was divided into rigid categories of property owners and laborers, which caused many social injustices. While the Irish provided profitable crops for their landlords, they subsisted on a potato diet.

Bartoletti depicts the Irish as a generous, hardworking, devout people who feel responsible to nurture and take care of the young and elderly. The Irish willingly help others and share what they...