How the Irish Saved Civilization
Ratings16
Average rating3.4
15
Ratings16
Average rating3.4
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.
Series
5 primary booksThe Hinges of History is a 5-book series with 5 primary works first released in 1996 with contributions by Thomas Cahill.
Reviews with the most likes.
If clickbait articles on the internet became a novel, it would be this book.
It appears to be an interesting historical view about the Irish, but is incredibly disjointed. The argument that the Irish saved civilization fits better in a pamphlet than a book. The author attempts to write it as a “story” but fails to bring the pieces together.
An example of this is the description of Augustine of Hippo. I know his story, so I know that it was not described eloquently. The author doesn't talk about Augustine's life in chronological order, but jumps around to make specific points. It was really, really confusing. For those historical figures I didn't know, this style makes it difficult to follow.
I have read academic books designed to be to-the-point and dry. Still, I prefer that style to this attempt to describe history with this narration and flow.
“How the Irish Saved Civilization” tells the story about how a group of Irish monks continued to make copies of Greek and Roman books while the Visigoths and other barbarian groups destroyed many of the existing versions of those same books in continental Europe.
There's some very interesting subject matter here, but Cahill tells it in a folksy, meandering sort of way that makes it hard to take the book seriously. The actual question of the title doesn't show up until over 100 pages in, with the main focus instead being a look at pre-Christian Ireland. Which is stuff I find interesting, but also isn't exactly what I was looking for in this book.
This was just... not good. I am a firm believer that history can be and should be interesting and even entertaining — I was totally encapsulated by the title & book description, but the writing itself fell short at every turn. Cahill seemed to zoom in on a few main icons & their writings but failed to integrate them into a legitimate, cohesive narrative of the time period. He transcribed & translated a painful amount of practically meaningless passages that have left me feeling somehow more ignorant about this time period than I was before, and I knew nothing before...
