The Graves Are Walking

The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People

By: John Kelly

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

It started in 1845 and lasted six years. Before it was over, more than one million men, women, and children starved to death and another million fled the country. Measured in terms of mortality, the Great Irish Potato Famine was one of the worst disasters in the 19th century-it claimed twice as many lives as the American Civil War. A perfect storm of bacterial infection, political greed, and religious intolerance sparked this catastrophe. But even more extraordinary than its scope were its political underpinnings, and The Graves Are Walking provides fresh material and analysis on the role that nineteenth-century evangelical Protestantism played in shaping British policies and on Britain's attempt to use the famine to reshape Irish society and character.

Perhaps most important, this is ultimately a story of triumph over perceived destiny: for 50 million Americans of Irish heritage, the saga of a broken people fleeing crushing starvation and remaking themselves in a new land is an inspiring story of exoneration.

Based on extensive research and written with novelistic flair, The Graves Are Walking draws a portrait that is both intimate and panoramic, that captures the drama of individual lives caught up in an unimaginable tragedy, while imparting a new understanding of the famine's causes and consequences.

©2012 John Kelly (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[Kelly's] exhaustive research covers every aspect, threading the gruesome events into a huge panoramic tapestry that reveals political greed lurking behind the pestilence." ( Publishers Weekly)

In A Word......Excellent!

Any additional comments?

As the great-great-great-grandson of immigrants who came to America during "The Great Hunger", I've always had a healthy interest in this tragic period in Irish History. This book did not disappoint. As a community college history professor, I have to admit that when I listen to non-fiction books, I hate the ones that are heavy handed with facts, figures, and dates. I prefer those with a broader narrative that weaves the "meat" of the story in with the stories of individuals. This book does not disappoint in that regard. I have to say that I listened to it once just for the story and then again for specific details. It is easy to get lost in, for sure.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in this period of Irish History. I particularly recommend it to Irish-Americans, Irish-Canadians, or Irish-Australians who's families fled Ireland during this era. It will bring you closer to your ancestors and you will get a better understanding of exactly what transpired during those tragic years.

Modern day arguments over whether or not the "Famine" was an act of genocide or not certainly have their place. However, by focusing entirely on that we lose sight of what is really important. These were human beings who endured tremendous hardships and were forced out of a land they loved. Indeed, they arrived on distant shores an unwanted people, certainly in America, but through it all they endured and then they thrived. As we approach St. Patrick's Day, let those of us who are lucky enough to be descended from these brave men and women never forget the struggles that our families went through to make for us the life that we enjoy today.

Unforgettable, Haunting, and a Compelling Warning

What an amazing book! I listened well into the night, the story and the narration were so compelling. I can't recommend it highly enough! Today, I am enlightened, appalled, grieved, very angry, and even alarmed about an event that happened half a world away over 150 years ago. I'd say that's a tribute to any historical account!

Like nearly all Americans, I was familiar with the reason so many Irish left their country in the 1840's. Mostly, it was, to me, more a story of American immigration than Irish tragedy. Well, no more! This is gut-wrenching, heart-breaking stuff, and, like all the best histories, brings to life the events and people of the time.

Can you believe it? The legislature of the most powerful and wealthy country of the time failed to react adequately to a natural disaster because 1} the poor in Ireland (a lazy bunch, anyway) might become dependent on government handouts; 2) giving away food would disrupt the free market (perfectly good non-potato food was, throughout the famine, being exported at great profit from Ireland); and 3) Party squabbles and greedy personal agendas meant too little action and too little political will to help the poor (and even the formerly relatively prosperous). This could never happen again, right?

So, besides being the terrible story of an awful time in Ireland that affected the entire world, this is a dire warning for the future. Bad economies, failing crops, and over-population are international problems. Once again, we'd better know our history and heed its lessons!

Beautifully written by John Kelly and compellingly narrated by Gerard Doyle, this is an important, important book. Don't miss it!

Whew!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If they are really into history or their Irish heritage.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Graves Are Walking?

I know there wasn't a happy moment.

Irish Geneology Joy

If you have Irish in your family tree, this is certainly worth a listen to understand what is really meant by "potato famine." I never imagined the extent and ramifications of the famine, nor the lifestyle which precipitated it or the politics which worsened it. No wonder tracing my Irish side is such a nightmare.

Fascinating window into a pivotal event

I've always heard about the potato famine, but never really knew the details - including how avoidable it was . The story is well-told, well-read, and well-documented. All that it missed, and this is a personal preference rather than a criticism, were some in-depth and personal stories about actual families deeply affected by the crisis. That said, it explained the ongoing struggles between the English and the Irish, the huge migration to American, and some pretty misinformed food policies. Worth reading!!

Such a tragedy

my great great grandfather came from Ireland (born 1822) sometime during the famine years, this book gave me insight on his experience and why he needed to come to America. So horrible this had to happen due to ignorance, snobbery, and religious/racial hatred. Let's learn from the past and not repeat it. God bless Ireland!

Very informative

I found this to be very informative but maybe too much like reading a text book.

Stop Using Food as a Tool of Moral Reeducation

Have you ever read/listened to a or story and found yourself getting really angry? I don't mean the polite. distant, "I can't believe that happened" mad. I mean the kind of righteous ire that has you pacing the floor, cursing, and punching sofa cushions. John Kelly's "The Graves are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People" (2012) enraged me, because Kelly was talking about my great grandfather's parents, Rosetta and John, who immigrated from Ireland in 1846 and 1847, when they were 8 and 9.

I've always known that Rosetta and John were 'potato famine Irish', but until Kelly's book, I had no appreciation for what that meant. My understanding of 'The Great Famine' was romanticized by Ron Howard's 1992 film "Far and Away." It would have been more historically accurate if Howard had used the same gaunt, haunted actors Steven Spielberg cast in "Schindler's List" (1993); and if Howard had replaced the beautiful Irish landscape with useless public works roads leading to nowhere, and stripped the verdant, forrested hills to bare dirt for no reason at all.

Phytophthora infestans (a fungus) caused Ireland's potato crop failures in 1845 to 1847, but England's attempt at social engineering actually killed an estimated 750,000 Irish. 2,000,000 more - including my great great grandparents - left. 25% to 30% of Ireland was gone in 2 years.

England's grand idea was that depriving the Irish of potatoes would make them self sufficient. Perhaps if Ireland, at England's direction, wasn't exporting food during the famine . . . Or if the grandiose administrators distributed grain sent from around the world , . . Or corrupt officials weren't propping up import prices . . . It broke my heart.

Although this book had a profound effect on me, I'm giving the story a 3 because it really wandered and repeated itself. I was confused about what happened, and when. Obvious questions weren't answered - who determined Phytophthora infestans was the culprit? What worked to stop it? There are more questions I'd like answered.

Gerard Doyle was a good narrator, although - with apologies to John and Rosetta - I wouldn't know a true Irish accent unless I was at Coulter Bay with a native of the "Irish race." Not my phrase, of course - thank the phrenologists of the day.

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Grueling Historical Account of Mass Suffering

I have to say that I do not normally buy purely historical audio books. I got this one on the daily deal at a discount. I much prefer historical FICTION, because I feel like I gain a better perspective on a human level, and I am more vested in the story, as well as the outcome. But I have always been interested in the great potato famine and the Irish people, so I got this one based on many of the recommendations. I feel sure that the historical data is well researched, and it is grueling to listen to. But in my opinion, it lacks HEART. It does, however, explain how something so horrendous can happen. The political times in England then are not far removed from many of the crooked, self-serving politicians of today. And red tape surely wasn't an invention of modern times, was it? The response of the "church" to the potato famine is especially gut wrenching, amounting to human beings proclaiming themselves to be God. I was able to understand the Irish immigration to America better than before, and the Irish Catholic roots here, both socially and politically. However, overall, the book was difficult to "get through". It was hard to keep my place. The scenes, terribly depressing, repeated themselves over and over, and I couldn't keep track of what year it was in Ireland . . . what had already happened and what was happening next.

Jaw-dropping history lesson

It’s almost impossible to describe exactly how shocked and appalled I was upon learning the details of this chapter of Irish history. Much credit goes to John Kelly for wrestling with this beast of a story, and for his attempt to cover it in as fair-minded a way as possible. My own emotions ran the gamut as I read, from sorrow to contempt to outrage, and I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for the author to keep his own emotions in check while telling the tale of this holocaust.

It would appear that human arrogance and cruelty in the name of so-called morality has and had no bounds at all, allowing hundreds of thousands to starve as an exercise in “freeing them from the tyranny of dependence on the crown.” Potatoes, you see, had been too easy to grow and created a culture of laziness which was being corrected by God in the form of blight . . . I can’t go on . . . So said the “moralists” of the day. Sound familiar?
Gerard Doyle is compelling as always. Highly recommended.