Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Bandgt;All Standing andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;The Remarkable Story of the andlt;/Iandgt;Jeanie Johnston, andlt;Iandgt;the Legendary Irish Famine Ship andlt;/Iandgt;recounts the journeys of this famous ship, her heroic crew, and the immigrants who were ferried between Ireland and North America. Spurred by a complex web of motivationsand#8212;shame, familial obligation, and sometimes even greedand#8212;more than a million people attempted to flee the Irish famine. More than one hundred thousand of them would die aboard one of the five thousand aptly named and#8220;coffin ships.and#8221; But in the face of horrific losses, a small ship named the andlt;Iandgt;Jeanie Johnston andlt;/Iandgt;never lost a passenger. Shipwright John Munn, community leader Nicholas Donovan, Captain James Attridge, Dr. Richard Blennerhassett, and the efforts of a remarkable crew allowed thousands of people to find safety and fortune throughout the United States and Canada. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Why did these individuals succeed when so many others failed? What prompted them to act, when so many people preferred to do nothingand#8212;or worse? Using newspaper accounts, rare archival documents, and her own experience sailing as an apprentice aboard the recently re-created andlt;Iandgt;Jeanie Johnston, andlt;/Iandgt;Kathryn Miles tells the story of these extraordinary people and the revolutionary milieu in which they set sail. The tale of each individual is remarkable in and of itself; read collectively, their stories paint a unique portrait of bravery in the face of a new world order. Theirs is a story of ingenuity and even defiance, one that recounts a struggle to succeed, to shake the mantle of oppression and guilt, to endure in the face of unimaginable hardship. On more than one occasion, stewards of the ship would be accused of acting out of self-interest or greed. Nevertheless, what these menand#8212;and their shipand#8212;accomplished over the course of eleven voyages to North America was the stuff of legend. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Interwoven in their tale is the story of Nicholas Reilly, a baby boy born on the shipand#8217;s maiden voyage. The Reilly family climbed aboard the andlt;Iandgt;Jeanie Johnston andlt;/Iandgt;in search of the American Dream. While they would find some version of that dream, it would not be without a struggleand#8212;one that would deposit Nicholas into a deeply controversial moment in American history. Against this backdrop, Miles weaves a thrilling, intimate narrative, chronicling the birth of a remarkable Irish-American family in the face of one of the planetand#8217;s greatest human rights atrocities.
Review
"An enchanting and dedicated historian, Kathryn Miles takes us on a journey from lore to science and back again.
Review
"All Standing illuminates a dire period in history I knew little about.
Review
"Well-researched and engagingly written, Kathryn Miles' All Standing is full of compelling characters--including the Jeanie Johnston herself.
Review
"Kathryn Miles illuminates the true horror of the Irish Potato Famine in the way that only well written and thoroughly researched narrative history can, presenting the story in every instance through the eyes of the people who lived it, making it all the more palpable, the suffering and the glimmers of hope all the more immediate. This is a very well done book about one of the most brutal and shameful episodes in the past three hundred years of Western history." --andlt;Bandgt;James L. Nelson, author of andlt;Iandgt;With Fire and Sword: The Battle of Bunker Hill and the Beginning of the American Revolutionandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
Review
and#8220;This is the story of the miraculous Jeanie Johnston, a ship that defied all odds crossing the Atlantic--but Kathryn Miles delves much deeper, weaving through it the larger stories of deadly sea-faring, rampant epidemic disease, and the disastrous, mass displacement of the Irish. With expert attention to detail and seamless writing, Miles takes you aboard the 'coffin ships' and into the lives of the shipbuilders, captains, maritime physicians, Irish refugees and those remarkable individuals who managed to survive.and#8221;andlt;Bandgt; ---- Molly Caldwell Crosby, author of andlt;iandgt;The Great Pearl Heistandlt;/iandgt; and andlt;iandgt;The American Plagueandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
Review
andlt;a name="_MailOriginal"andgt;"From moldering black potatoes in the fields of mid-19th Ireland, to hostile and#8220;Irish need not applyand#8221; signs cropping up across American cities, the story of the great potato blight is neither simple nor direct. Kathryn Miles makes this sweeping, often overwhelmingly sad story both lucid and accessible as she tells the tales of captivating characters, including Quebec shipbuilder John Munn, Irish ship surgeon Richard Blennerhassett, and Reillys, a beleaguered family of immigrants. Miles puts faces on one of historyand#8217;s greatest calamities." --andlt;b andgt;Wayne Curtis, author of andlt;Iandgt;And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktailsandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/bandgt;andlt;/aandgt;
Review
"The authorand#8217;s solid research and use of newly available material exposes the truth of the Potato Famine, the barbaric policies that exacerbated it and the incredible will of the Irish people." --andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Kirkus Reviewsandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
Review
andlt;divandgt;"An enchanting and dedicated historian, Kathryn Miles takes us on a journey from lore to science and back again.
Review
andlt;divandgt;"andlt;iandgt;All Standingandlt;/iandgt; illuminates a dire period in history I knew little about.
Review
andlt;divandgt;"Well-researched and engagingly written, Kathryn Miles' andlt;iandgt;All Standingandlt;/iandgt; is full of compelling characters--including the Jeanie Johnston herself.
Review
"An enchanting and dedicated historian, Kathryn Miles takes us on a journey from lore to science and back again. By turns harrowing and heartwarming,andlt;iandgt; All Standingandlt;/iandgt; salvages the treasure of a history lost at sea." -- andlt;bandgt;J.C. Hallman, author of andlt;iandgt;The Devil is a Gentlemanandlt;/iandgt; and andlt;iandgt;Wm andamp; H'ryandlt;/iandgt; and andlt;iandgt;In Utopiaandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/bandgt;
Review
and#8220;andlt;iandgt;All Standingandlt;/iandgt; illuminates a dire period in history I knew little about. Through Kathryn Milesand#8217; crisp writing and meticulous research, I gained understanding and insight into this humanitarian crisis, but also was felt as if I was a passenger on the harrowing trans-Atlantic crossing of the andlt;iandgt;Jeanie Johnstonandlt;/iandgt;. Bravo to the author for bringing the story to life and illuminating the best and worst of the people involved.and#8221; -- andlt;Bandgt;Michael Tougias, author of andlt;Iandgt;A Storm Too Soon, Fatal Forecastandlt;/Iandgt;, and andlt;Iandgt;Overboard!andlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
Review
"Well-researched and engagingly written, Kathryn Miles' andlt;iandgt;All Standingandlt;/iandgt; is full of compelling characters--including the Jeanie Johnston herself. The ship becomes a beacon of hope in an age Miles paints with vigor as beset by famine, disease, political callousness and cruelty." --andlt;Bandgt;Ginger Strand, author of andlt;Iandgt;Killer on the Roadandlt;/Iandgt; and andlt;Iandgt;Inventing Niagaraandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;
Synopsis
The dramatic true tale of a boy born at sea during the Irish Potato famine and the "coffin ship" that saved him and thousands of others from one of the world's greatest humanitarian crises.
All Standing The Remarkable Story of the Jeanie Johnston, the Legendary Irish Famine Ship recounts the journeys of this famous ship, her heroic crew, and the immigrants who were ferried between Ireland and North America. Spurred by a complex web of motivations--shame, familial obligation, and sometimes even greed--more than a million people attempted to flee the Irish famine. More than one hundred thousand of them would die aboard one of the five thousand aptly named "coffin ships." But in the face of horrific losses, a small ship named the Jeanie Johnston never lost a passenger. Shipwright John Munn, community leader Nicholas Donovan, Captain James Attridge, Dr. Richard Blennerhassett, and the efforts of a remarkable crew allowed thousands of people to find safety and fortune throughout the United States and Canada.
Why did these individuals succeed when so many others failed? What prompted them to act, when so many people preferred to do nothing--or worse? Using newspaper accounts, rare archival documents, and her own experience sailing as an apprentice aboard the recently re-created Jeanie Johnston, Kathryn Miles tells the story of these extraordinary people and the revolutionary milieu in which they set sail. The tale of each individual is remarkable in and of itself; read collectively, their stories paint a unique portrait of bravery in the face of a new world order. Theirs is a story of ingenuity and even defiance, one that recounts a struggle to succeed, to shake the mantle of oppression and guilt, to endure in the face of unimaginable hardship. On more than one occasion, stewards of the ship would be accused of acting out of self-interest or greed. Nevertheless, what these men--and their ship--accomplished over the course of eleven voyages to North America was the stuff of legend.
Interwoven in their tale is the story of Nicholas Reilly, a baby boy born on the ship's maiden voyage. The Reilly family climbed aboard the Jeanie Johnston in search of the American Dream. While they would find some version of that dream, it would not be without a struggle--one that would deposit Nicholas into a deeply controversial moment in American history. Against this backdrop, Miles weaves a thrilling, intimate narrative, chronicling the birth of a remarkable Irish-American family in the face of one of the planet's greatest human rights atrocities.
Synopsis
The dramatic true tale of a boy born at sea during the Irish Potato famine and the “coffin ship” that saved him and thousands of others from one of the world’s greatest humanitarian crises.The nineteenth century Irish Potato Famine claimed the lives of more than 1,000,000 people. Many of these were Irish citizens who died on board ships carrying them away from Ireland. Promised jobs and a better life in North America, they emigrated, crowding onto aptly named “coffin ships,” whose gruesome conditions rivaled those of slave transports. But on one ship, decency prevailed, and each of the thousands of passengers who went aboard survived. Among these thousands was a baby boy born on the ship’s maiden voyage. That boy, Nicholas—Nicholas Richard James Thomas William John Gabriel Carls Michael John Alexander Trabaret Archibald Cornelius Hugh Arthur Edward Johnston Reilly, so named for the captain, doctor, and crew of the Jeanie Johnston—would go on to make his own remarkable voyage into the heart of America.
All Standing chronicles the life of Nicholas, his fellow passengers, and the heroic crew members who conveyed them to safety. Using personal interviews, newspaper accounts, rare archival documents, and her own sailing experience, Miles takes readers back to another time and place that, for all its extremity, seems strangely familiar—a dire moment in history shaped by home foreclosures and company bailouts, seemingly untreatable pandemics, and the threat of immigrant labor. Against the backdrop of one of history’s greatest atrocities, Miles weaves a thrilling, intimate narrative, chronicling the sea-passage and birth of one Irish-American family.
About the Author
andlt;Bandgt;Kathryn Milesandlt;/Bandgt;andnbsp;is a professor of environmental writing at Unity College. She is the author ofandnbsp;andlt;iandgt;Adventures With Ariandnbsp;andlt;/iandgt;and dozens of articles that have appeared in publications, includingandnbsp;andlt;iandgt;Alimentum, Best American Essays, Ecotone, Flyway, Meatpaper, andlt;/iandgt;andandlt;iandgt; Terrain.andnbsp;andlt;/iandgt;She livesand#8212;and sailsand#8212;in Belfast, Maine.