In Ireland, Gustave de Beaumont chronicles the history of the Irish and offers up a national portrait on the eve of the Great Famine. This rediscovered masterpiece includes an introduction on Beaumont and his world. This volume also presents Beaumont's impassioned preface in which he portrays the appalling effects of the Great Famine. A classic of nineteenth-century political and social commentary, Beaumont's singular portrait offers the compelling immediacy of an eyewitness to history.