The Great Shame: And the Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking World

In The Great Shame, Thomas Keneally—the bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author of Schindler's List—combines the authority of a brilliant historian and the narrative grace of a great novelist to present a gripping account of the Irish diaspora.

The nineteenth century saw Ireland lose half of its population to famine, emigration, or deportation to penal colonies in Australia—often for infractions as common as stealing food. Among the victims of this tragedy were Thomas Keneally's own forebea...