This book is a study of the making of Britain's Irish policy in the period immediately preceeding and during the Great Famine of 1845-50. It looks particularly at interpretations of and responses to the 'land question', in the context of debates on the reconstruction of Irish rural society, the relief of poverty, and the responsibilities of the state. Political agitation increasingly focused attention on Irish social problems in the early 1840s, but it was the Famine which forced these to the forefront of British politics. This book analyses the ideological forces underlying the decisions that had such fatal consequences for the people of Ireland and for the country's future.… (more)