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All Standing: The True Story Of Hunger, Rebellion, And Survival Aboard The Jeanie Johnston (2013)

by Kathryn Miles(Favorite Author)

3.83 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1451610130 (ISBN13: 9781451610130)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Free Press

review 1: While the title and synopsis suggest this is about the ship “Jeanie Johnston”, it really is about a whole lot more! It goes into the history of the great potato famine of Ireland, the ways in which the government handle (or should it be said, Mishandled) the crisis, the great exodus of the Irish people to America, as well as what they found when they arrived. The information was very informative and seems to be well researched. My issue with the book is the choppiness of the chapters. The author jumps from one area to the other and throws in bits of the life and times of the Reilly family from their struggles in Ireland through second generation in America but, as it seems, randomly. That being said, it made for an interesting read. The history buffs out there would p... morerobably be interested in reading this as well as others who enjoy accounts of remarkable journeys. I must add this was another great giveaway by GoodReads and Kathryn Miles! I thank you!
review 2: The Irish potato famine is at its worst. Blight kills all of the potatoes--my god, even the ones that had been harvested and stored away in root cellars where the families thought they could access them!--and the potato was nearly the only crop that the Irish had. Millions depended on charity (nearly nonexistent) or the government, and unspeakable numbers died, while the grain that had grown was shipped abroad as an export for sale. Local farmers who had a surviving patch of turnips or even a single cabbage had to post a guard overnight, or someone else would steal it. Unfathomable.I was sent a free copy of All Standing as part of the Goodreads First Reads program. My gratitude goes to Goodreads and the publisher for the book, and to Miles for ferreting out the facts to tell this story properly. Research is such tedious work, and here she has done so much to tell an important story.The first seventy pages of this story are bleak, miserable, horrible, terrible. Miles does not let us go gently. The documentation is well done, and the statistics and examples lend a special sort of dread to that which was macabre to start with. There is no way to Disney-fy a story like the famine and still have it be real history. And those who buy a place on the "coffin ships" for the small chance that they may survive the trip to the new world die in droves, primarily of typhus, though a small number are fortunate and survive.An innovative ship builder, an experienced and humane captain, and a doctor who was ahead of his time combined to make the Jeanie Johnston exceptional. It is for this part of the story, as well as the righteous anger that serves as the transition from utter misery to success, that those who love Ireland, history, or better still, both should read this book. It is a beacon that is welcome in times such as ours, one that reminds us that one person, or two, or three who have the courage of their convictions really can make a difference to others. less

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