Product Description

The perfect St. Patrick's Day gift, and a book in the best tradition of popular history -- the untold story of Ireland's role in maintaining Western culture while the Dark Ages settled on Europe.

Every year millions of Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but they may not be aware of how great an influence St. Patrick was on the subsequent history of civilization. Not only did he bring Christianity to Ireland, he instilled a sense of literacy and learning that would create the conditions that allowed Ireland to become "the isle of saints and scholars" -- and thus preserve Western culture while Europe was being overrun by barbarians.

In this entertaining and compelling narrative, Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization -- copying manuscripts of Greek and Latin writers, both pagan and Christian, while libraries and learning on the continent were forever lost -- they brought their uniquely Irish world-view to the task.

As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated.

In the tradition of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, How The Irish Saved Civilization reconstructs an era that few know about but which is central to understanding our past and our cultural heritage. But it conveys its knowledge with a winking wit that aptly captures the sensibility of the unsung Irish who relaunched civilization.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3779 in Books
• Published on: 1996-02-01
• Released on: 1996-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.com Review
In this delightful and illuminating look into a crucial but little-known "hinge" of history, Thomas Cahill takes us to the "island of saints and scholars," the Ireland of St. Patrick and the Book of Kells. Here, far from the barbarian despoliation of the continent, monks and scribes laboriously, lovingly, even playfully preserved the West's written treasury. When stability returned in Europe, these Irish scholars were instrumental in spreading learning, becoming not only the conservators of civilization, but also the shapers of the medieval mind, putting their unique stamp on Western culture.

From Publishers Weekly
An account of the pivotal role played by Irish monks in transcribing and preserving Classical civilization during the Dark Ages.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
We usually associate the preservation of Greek and Roman learning with the Muslim world, but here Cahill brings to light the vital role also played by Irish monks and scribes during the time of St. Patrick and the Book of Kells.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

How the Irish Saved Civilization
This book came highly recommended by a couple of people. I'm not sure why. It was interesting if you're a history buff, but expect the reading to feel more like you're in school again and have to read something for a paper coming up. It could have been more engaging. I wouldn't recommend it, but I did learn some interesting facts about the Irish.

I had avoided this book for 13 years
This book came out in 1995. And I've avoided it since then.

I was wrong.

I'd been told the book is superficial. It is: any book of this length that tries to cover a subject of the length and breadth here is sure to be superficial.

And perhaps superficial is too harsh. "A good overview" might be a better way of describing it.

But this is an engaging, entertaining read. I found myself drawn into a subject I knew little about, the history, people, culture and faith of Ireland and the Celts. For those wanting more background, Cahill provides a useful bibliography at the end. Those wishing for more than this overview can find years of study in the books recommended in the bibliography.

An overview gets us started. It's not where we should stop, but it provides a means of seeing the big picture, and understanding how to fit in the necessary minutiae of history. This book is that good beginning for understand how the Irish were the bookmeisters at the end of the Roman empire.

Always on time
I purchased this book for my husband for his birthday. It arrived right on time and he loved it.