Rot Audiobook By Padraic X. Scanlan cover art

Rot

A History of the Irish Famine

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Rot

By: Padraic X. Scanlan
Narrated by: Stephen Hogan
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.15

Buy for $18.15

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

In the 1800s, as Britain became the world's most powerful industrial empire, Ireland starved. The Great Famine fractured long-held assumptions about political economy and 'civilisation', threatening disorder in Britain. Ireland was a laboratory for empire, shaping British ideas about colonisation, population, ecology and work.

In Rot, Padraic Scanlan reinterprets the history of this time and the result is a revelatory account of Ireland's Great Famine. In the first half of the nineteenth century, nowhere in Europe - or the world - did the working poor depend as completely on potatoes as in Ireland. To many British observers, potatoes were evidence of a lack of modernity among the Irish. However, Ireland before the famine more closely resembled capitalism's future than its past. While poverty before and during the Great Famine was often blamed on Irish backwardness, it did in fact stem from the British Empire's embrace of modern capitalism.

Uncovering the disaster's roots in Britain's deep imperial faith in markets and capitalism, Rot reshapes our understanding of the Famine and its tragic legacy.

'A vigorous and engaging new study of the Irish famine . . . Richly underpinned by research in contemporary sources and firmly rooted in historical scholarship.' Fintan O'Toole

'Mr. Scanlan's haunting and terrible book is undoubtedly a history title of the year.' Wall Street Journal

'Rot is a moving modern history of the Great Potato Famine. With great insight and impeccable research, Padraic Scanlan vividly brings this terrible catastrophe and the stories of its heroes and villains back to life. Tyler Anbinder, author of City of Dreams

'Rot brilliantly blends economic, social, and environmental history to deliver a stunning new account of one of nineteenth-century Europe's most shameful tragedies. Padraic Scanlan joins clear-eyed, comprehensive research and analysis to deliver a persuasive indictment of faith in free markets. As illuminating as it is harrowing, Rot is a must-read for anybody interested in the histories of capitalism and empire.' Maya Jasanoff, author of The Dawn Watch

'Crisply written and based on an impressive range of contemporary sources, Padraic Scanlan's Rot is the best kind of historical writing.' Sean Connolly, author of On Every Tide

'Rot is a book I have longed to read. Framing the Irish Famine within the context of the British empire is revelatory. An incredibly important work.' Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireworld©2025 Padraic X. Scanlan (P)2025 Hachette Audio UK
19th Century Europe Great Britain Ireland Modern Famine Imperialism

What listeners say about Rot

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.