How the Irish saved civilization: the untold story of Ireland's heroic role from the fall of Rome to the rise of medieval Europe

Thomas Cahill

Doubleday, Feb 1, 1996 - Art - 246 pages

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 ageof 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 centralto 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.

What people are saying

User Review -

This is a great read -especially for Saint Patrick's Day. It reminds us that in so many ways this small country has made giant contributions to Western civilization and that is doubly true as regards American history. Cahill is an exciting writer. He does his homework and is amazingly positive being a non-Catholic. The only thing I would add that there was another very real and significant guardian of civilization in the world, one which the west has just about ignored in the past. Perhaps this book will stimulate the reader to discover what the Moslem culture with all its riches of science and the arts was doing while Europe was was in danger of losing much of its treasured past.  

Review: How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History #1)

User Review  - Kathleen - Goodreads

Cahill may be overblown and off base at times, but he increased my interest in the Dark Ages. I read the first four books in the Hinges of History series, starting book 1 almost 20 years ago, so my ...

Contents

• WHAT WAS LOST: 60
• A SHIFTING WORLD OF DARKNESS: 69
• GOOD NEWS FROM FAR OFF: 99

About the author

THOMAS CAHILL is the author of the best-selling books, How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland 's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe, The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels, and Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus.  These books comprise the first three volumes of a prospective seven-volume series entitled "The Hinges of History," in which Cahill recounts formative moments in Western civilization. In "The Hinges of History," Thomas Cahill endeavors to retell the story of the Western World through little-known stories of the great gift-givers, people who contributed immensely to Western, culture and the evolution of Western sensibility, thus revealing how we have become the people we are and why we think and feel the way we do today.

Thomas Cahill is best known, in his books and lectures, for taking on a broad scope of complex history and distilling it into accessible, instructive, and entertaining narrative. His lively, engaging writing animates cultures that existed up to five millennia ago, revealing the lives of his principal characters with refreshing insight and joy. He writes history, not in its usual terms of war and catastrophe, but as "narratives of grace, the recountings of those blessed and inexplicable moments when someone did something for someone else, saved a life, bestowed a gift, gave something beyond what was required by circumstance." Unlike all too many history lessons, a Thomas Cahill history book or speech is impossible to forget.

He has taught at Queens College, Fordham University and Seton Hall University, served as the North American education correspondent for the Times of London, and was for many years a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times Book Review. Prior to retiring recently to write full-time, he was director of religious publishing at Doubleday for six years. He and his wife, Susan, also an author, founded the now legendary Cahill & Company Catalogue, much beloved by readers. They divide their time between New York and Rome.


From the Hardcover edition.

Bibliographic information

• Title: How the Irish saved civilization: the untold story of Ireland's heroic role from the fall of Rome to the rise of medieval Europe; Volume 1 of Hinges of history, Thomas Cahill; Anchor Books
• Author: Thomas Cahill
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Doubleday, 1996
• ISBN: 0385418493, 9780385418492
• Length: 246 pages
• Subjects: Art / History / General; Books; Books - Ireland - History - 400-1400; Books/ Ireland/ History/ 400-1400; Civilization, Classical; Civilization, Classical - Study and teaching - Ireland; Civilization, Classical/ Study and teaching/ Ireland; Civlization, Classical; Education / General; Europe; Europe - Civilization - Irish influences; History / Ancient / General; History / Civilization; History / Europe / Ireland; History / General; Ireland; Ireland - Civilization - To 1172; Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / General; Learning and scholarship; Learning and scholarship - History - Medieval, 500-1500; Learning and scholarship/ History/ Medieval, 500-1500; Literary Criticism / Books & Reading; Manuscripts; Manuscripts - Ireland - History; Monastic libraries; Monastic libraries - Ireland; Scriptora; Scriptoria; Scriptoria - Ireland; Transmission of tests; Transmission of texts