The Divine Life: Being Suggestions to Those Who Are About Commencing a Religious Life Book

I'm not entirely sure who John O'Rourke is, but a quick google search tells me he is quite possibly a Catholic religious leader of some kind. Regardless, his book about the famine in Ireland in the 1840s is amazing in many ways.

The book covers the possible reasons for the famine-- theories that span scientific as well as mystical. But the real meat of the book covers the way the British government chose to cope with the disaster and how it contributed to making the tragedy that much worse. O'Rourke covers nearly every angle - political, charity organizations, private citizens, journalism. The first person accounts of starvation and living conditions during the worst of the famine are absolutely heartbreaking.

The writer's personality -- his sarcasm, outrage, and even respect for those individuals that made a discernible impact and effort to help -- shines through in every chapter and makes the book that much more relate-able and real. His eulogy for Daniel O'Connell made me want to know more about him. His anger at Charles Dickens' careless comments about Catholics made me reconsider my own opinion of Dickens. I enjoyed this book, and I think it was mainly because of how excellently it was written and laid out.

Anyone looking for a book written maybe 30 years after the event itself, you could not do better than this.