Cahill, Thomas : How the Irish Saved Civilization

The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe
How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill is likely a book review more apt for St. Patrick’s Day. But after picking up the book this past weekend, my recommendation doesn’t feel as though it should have to wait. Cahill offers up a fascinating story behind a debt you and I owe the unlikely heroes of Ireland. With Alaric the Goth’s sacking of Rome and the empire’s subsequent fall came the loss of numerous texts paramount to what we now consider the history of European civilization. But the preservation of that identity is most significantly indebted to the scribes and Irish monks who preserved and transcribed numerous texts. A people group who had only just begun to read became the conservator of all Western history and the benefactor of our present civilization. Cahill’s work has been noted as possibly being a generous retelling of history, but this should hardly deter a reader. Even if his credit gives way to hyperbole, How the Irish Saved Civilization sheds light on the unsung Irish and the fascinating characters of the time. If you are craving a short and informative read that resembles nothing of the textbook you are aching to get rid of, I believe you will enjoy Thomas Cahill’s, How the Irish Saved Civilization. Michael Biornstad