The Irish Famine is a book written by Diarmaid Ferriter and Colm Tóibín.

The second volume, written by Ferriter, is entitled The Capricious Growth of a Single Root and was added in 2001.

Tóibín wrote his volume in part, for Irish-Americans; he has been critical of how the Great Famine has been taught in American schools.

[2] He mentions that Americans are "full of emotional language, selective quotation and vicious anti-English rhetoric" and that "[Americans] assert, despite all evidence to the contrary, that Ireland remained a net exporter of food during the Famine.

Documents include: British Parliamentary Papers; Distress papers from the National Archives of Ireland; Relief Commission Papers; Society of Friends Famine Papers; reports from various Relief Committees; the Prendergast family letters; statistics from the Office of Public Works during 1845–1850; reports from County Inspection Officers; personal statements by leading religious officials; reports from the Irish Constabulary; and personal correspondence of Richard Dowden, the former Mayor of Cork, the Lord Lieutenant, the Duke of Leinster, Lord Cloncurry, Robert Peel, Charles Trevelyan, and John Russell, among others.