Famine in European History

The first systematic study of famine in all parts of Europe from the Middle Ages until the present.

Guido Alfani (Edited by), Cormac Ó Gráda (Edited by)

9781316631836, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 18 August 2017

336 pages
22.6 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.51 kg

'This impressive volume presents a series of quantitatively rich historical studies by leading scholars that together offer a broad picture of famine in Europe - scale, context, and cause and effect - from medieval times onward.' Geoffrey McNicoll, Population and Development Review

This is the first systematic study of famine in all parts of Europe from the Middle Ages until the present. In case studies ranging from Scandinavia and Italy to Ireland and Russia, leading scholars compare the characteristics, consequences and causes of famine. The famines they describe differ greatly in size, duration and context; in many cases the damage wrought by poor harvests was confounded by war. The roles of human action, malfunctioning markets and poor relief are a recurring theme. The chapters also take full account of demographic, institutional, economic, social and cultural aspects, providing a wealth of new information which is organized and analyzed within a comparative framework. Famine in European History represents a significant new contribution to demographic history, and will be of interest to all those who want to discover more about famines - truly horrific events which, for centuries, have been a recurring curse for the Europeans.

1. Famines in Europe: an overview Guido Alfani and Cormac Ó Gráda
2. Italy Guido Alfani, Donatella Strangio and Luca Mocarelli
3. Spain Vicente Perez Moreda
4. France Gerard Béaur and Jean-Michel Chevet
5. Germany, Switzerland and Austria Dominik Collet and Daniel Krämer
6. Low Countries Daniel Curtis, Jessica Dijkman, Thijs Lambrecht and Eric Vanhaute
7. Britain Richard Hoyle
8. Ireland Cormac Ó Gráda
9. Nordic Europe Martin Dribe, Mats Olsson and Patrick Svensson
10. Eastern Europe (Russia and the USSR) Stephen Wheatcroft
11. The European famines of World War I and II Stephen Wheatcroft and Cormac Ó Gráda.

Subject Areas: Famine [JFFC1], 21st century history: from c 2000 - [HBLX], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], History: earliest times to present day [HBL], British & Irish history [HBJD1], European history [HBJD]