Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

The triumphs and disasters of 1845

It was a year packed with drama – from the transatlantic crossing of the SS Great Britain to the start of the Irish potato blight that would leave millions starving

The Irish potato famine, which began in 1845, would leave approximately two million starving or displaced. [Alamy]

  • The Year That Shaped the Victorian Age: Lives, Loves and Letters of 1845

    Michael Wheeler

    Cambridge University Press, pp. 280, £29

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Subscribe today to get 3 months' delivery of the magazine, as well as online and app access, for only £3.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

  • Weekly delivery of the magazine
  • Unlimited access to our website and app
  • Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
  • Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Read next

Trending

Kate Andrews

Labour’s plan to renationalise the railways doesn’t add up

Kate Andrews
Labour’s plan to renationalise the railways is not much of a plan at all. Rather, it is a list of goals: to eliminate ‘fragmentation, waste, bureaucracy’, to ‘bring down costs for taxpayers’ and to ‘drive-up standards for passengers’. All lofty ambitions, all lacking a strategy. What little detail we do have points to significantly more

Also in Book Reviews

Also by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

Latest

Comments

A blooming good offer

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting the next 3 months for £3.

Already a subscriber? Log in