Ireland's Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University is now publishing the Famine Folios , a unique resource for students, scholars and researchers, as well as general readers, covering many aspects of the Famine in Ireland from 1845-1852 - the worst demographic catastrophe of nineteenth-century Europe. The essays are interdisciplinary in nature, and make available new research in Famine studies by internationally established scholars in history, art history, cultural theory, philosophy, media history, political economy, literature and music. This publication's initiative is devised to augment the Museum experience and is part of the Museum's commitment to making its collection accessible to audiences of all ages and levels of educational interest. The booklets are produced to the highest level, beautifully illustrated with works from the Museum and related collections. It ensures that audiences have access to the latest scholarship as it pertains to both the historical and contemporary dimensions of the collection. Christine Kinealy provides a chronology of the Famine and examines the causes and consequences of this tragedy, and asks how could a famine of this magnitude occur at the center of the British Empire? Why did Ireland starve?