About
Reviews (2)
30 March 2008
Award Winner
Both the first movie and the first book won esteemed awards (productions for children). The two other books and movies in the series may not have won awards, but are legitimate continuations of the story. Highly recommended for children from about 8 to 13 (also enjoyable for other ages, but I believe the target audience would fall in the 8 to 13 bracket). My grandkids enjoy both the books and the movies.
27 February 2008
Well researched data on British Poorhouses in Eire
Difficult to stay awake for the first couple chapters, it is worth the sacrifice to gain an education in the workhouse (poorhouse) system with all of its failings and all the politics involved (mostly bad). While workhouses in England were a failure, the failure was much worse in Ireland. This book addresses the economic and cultural differences, including details of the effects of the potato blight, famine and the resulting fever epidemics.
This book should be of interest to anyone of Irish descent. I was interested in this book because my grandfather and g-grandfather were Kells Poor Law Guardians from the mid-nineteenth century until the workhouses closed. I only wish there could have been some research on the effects on the Irishmen who had to govern and administrate this hateful system while trying to provide for the poor of Ireland with very limited resources.