Thanks to NetGalley; Little, Brown and Company; and Hatchette Audio for ARC copies of this ebook and audiobook!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Despite completing my degree being specialized in Gilded Age America, a lot of this was new information. Many of the Irish immigrants came over before that time period, but there were plenty of examples of these men and women leaving lasting impacts on their communities in its midst. So, I loved getting more information on this micro-history!

Tyler Anbinder has given us a wonderfully researched and detailed history of the Irish migration to America in the 19th century. I didn't realize how huge and influential their demographic truly was in New York! A lot of the research appears to stem from bank ledgers and documents that allowed individuals and families to be tracked. Anbinder gives examples of Irishmen working in a variety of different jobs and in several different social classes. We see some rise and others fall. A handful are able to give their children a leg-up and a few times prosperity is squandered. There is variety in these stories, but also consistency. None of the information feels like it's too minute and detailed to be relevant, but as a historian/reader, I'm also not left with unanswered questions. The balance is great! I would definitely recommend this one.

As the grandson of Irish immigrants "right off the boat," I was very excited to dive into Tyler Anbinder's Plentiful Country. While my grandparents were not Famine immigrants, the Irish experience landing in America is well known within the community even to this day. If there is one thing that I feel no one can argue with, Anbinder did extensive research and it shows.

Anbinder is basically writing about what happened to the Irish immigrants of the Great Potato Famine when they got to New York and how their lives ended up. Anbinder also gives an excellent rundown of the reasons and consequences of the Great Potato Famine. He doesn't let the British government off the hook, either, which means I don't need to rant about it here.

Anbinder then breaks down each class of immigrant such as unskilled laborers or business owners and traces their lives. What Anbinder is really trying to do is refute a false historical narrative that Irish immigrants came to America and didn't rise about their stations. The author emphatically proves this wrong with personal narratives but also actual numbers. If you want to argue with Anbinder, go right ahead, but you better do some research because he is going to show up with charts. I know this because the charts are in the book. I love them.

I will say that this narrative does lose a little steam because of the sheer weight of the numbers along with the fact that each class gets its own in-depth chapter. It probably could have been a little shorter and still made its points. It's a minor issue and doesn't hinder someone who is interested in this subject from enjoying it while learning way more than you would expect.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company.)

This was a fascinating look at Irish Famine Immigrants and the cultural and economic impact they had on the America. The author is able to extrapolate an astonishing amount of detail on the lives of Famine Immigrant from bank records, and I appreciated the thoroughness with which he explored each different class of workers, while also telling compelling stories of individuals. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Great Potato Famine and the resulting surge of immigration to the United States. Thanks to the publisher Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

A great addition to the literature of the Irish American diaspora and an excellent follow up to the author's previous work on 'immigrant New York'. Anbinder does an excellent job drawing connections between the counties of origin and the pockets of settlement in NYC. The story of Irish consolidation of political power in the wards. Anbinder also masterfully describes the emergence of an Irish-American culture fostered by the common experience of the tragedy of The Famine, Essential reading for understanding the social and political culture of New York in the nineteenth century and beyond.