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Summary: Sloppy/disorganized book with much interesting trivia.
Review: This is a very interesting book. Unfortunately, the connection between the title of the book and the content of 90% of the book is very tenuous. Indeed, the discussion about the "save civilization" piece was almost perfunctory, at the end of the volume. That said, there are alot of interesting facts about early-Irish history, early-Catholic Church history, St Patrick, etc.
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Summary: History Lite
Review: This is a well-written, charming book. The title chapter is interesting and generally accurate (to my knowledge -- and I have a graduate degree in medieval literature). Cahill's observations on the role of women in the Celtic church were intriguing, too, and I'd like to read more on that subject.
However, I found the author's equation of 'civilization' (pronounced, no doubt, with a British accent) with The Classics rather narrow-minded. His picture of life in pre-Christian Ireland relies on the highly arguable assumption that heroic literature is an accurate depiction of daily life. And I think he exaggerates the degree to which Christianity changed the behavior and beliefs of the "average" Irish man or woman: I live in New Mexico, where all the Pueblo people have been nominally Catholic for the past 400 years, and yet they're still dancing to call the deer and increase the corn crop.
If you view this book as "a literate man's thoughts about the history of Christianity in Ireland," it sort of works. But as a historical work, it's pretty lightweight (I read the whole book on a flight between Albuquerque and Dallas!). It's a delightful story -- but it's definitely not the whole story.
Rating: 
Summary: myth not history
Review: I'm surprised by the number of negative reviews complaining this is weak history. I know almost nothing about the historical material Cahill covers, but unless he is simply lying, the general story he tells appears to be not only accurate but (among historians) commonplace. There is no original research here, nor any pretense of originality of scholarship. Rather it's an attempt to make sense of the known historical facts, to turn them into what used to be called a "usable past." And in that it succeeds, wonderfully. It is a bold and delightful attempt to redefine--and recapture the charisma of--what is means to be Irish, or civilized, or Christian. And for my money, the versions--the myths--it offers of those identities is way better than the conventional ones. Giver this book to yr kids.
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Summary: thank a monk
Review: "How the Irish Saved Civilization" by Thomas Cahill. The history of literacy in the western world. If you can read this, thank a monk.
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Summary: not the Irish!
Review: There is a huge and growing scholarly literature on the fascinating and important subject of early Ireland, but Cahill has not read that literature nor does he expect anyone else to. Instead he panders to Irish-American sentimentality and nostalgic patriotism to whip up a frothy story that has very little truth to it.
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Summary: About as historically accurate as a conspiracy theory
Review: I do not disagree with the author's central premise, that in the dark ages, much of Western Europe's literary and historical heritage would have been lost without the assistance of Irish monks. HOWEVER, the author's historical research is painful. He refers to theories about Ireland's pre-history and early history that have been questioned, if not completely discredited. He never cites a dissenting view, most probably because of his inadequate research. Few (if any) scholars consider the Book of Invasions a historical document. (To those who have never heard of it, it's like believing in Atlantis) Many scholars argue with the idea that Patrick had ever been to the continent, let alone to Rome. The authors biases against pagan literature and history are offensive. He doesn't miss a chance to cite pagan sources that refer to sexual or bodily functions and his "analysis" of these sources constantly refer to them as lustful and unintelligent. The discerning should be able to recognize bad scholarship, even if they are not familiar with the subject matter. If you read this book and believe its contents, you will know less about Ireland than when you started
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Summary: Hideously researched and very biased. Don't listen to him.
Review: Cahill fails to cite almost any sources for his historical "facts," and the few he does cite are either mistranslated or misquoted. The gist of the book is that the way in which the Irish saved civilization was by embracing Christianity. His definition of civilization is any Christian society; the surrounding Pagan cultures are referred to as barbarian hordes living in darkness till the light of God is thrust upon them. His point seems to be that Christianity took hold of Europe and the rest of the world largely because it managed to take hold of Ireland, but he fails to understand or tell us that Christianity was repeatedly rejected by the Irish, and that the older Pagan ways continued on for a VERY long time underneath a thin cover of Christian rule. In short, he Pagan-bashes like crazy and has the WORST historical methods I have seen in years of study
Rating: 
Summary: Unremarkable
Review: If you already know that the Irish "saved civilization" through its monastic tradition, you are probably not going to learn much more through this book. Instead of telling us what is actually going on during the period, the author spends WAY too much time quoting select passages of from ancient Irish literature and then making generalizations about the Irish character from those passages. I could probably read the same books and pull passages that support the oppostite conclusions. The fact that the Irish literature from that period only represents a tiny fraction of the population makes this exercise all the more pointless. I could not find a mention of a single saved work of literature can be directly attributed to the Irish
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but does not have the depth that was needed.
Review: Cahill's book sets out to prove a bold premise (that would hold NO water with anyone born east of Istanbul) but doesn't go into the level of detail that is needed for the task. Although I found the book quite interesting, I found myself hoping for more detail at the end of each chapter and not finding it. In fact, I read this book just after reading Brendan Lehane's "Early Celtic Christianity," which I recommend more highly, and found that had it not been for Lehane's strong foundation (particularly on Columbanus) I most likely would not have been able to see deeply into many of the issues that Cahill just took a glancing look at. I am of the opinion that Mr Cahill would be interesting to sit down to dinner with, but that this book only reveals the surface of his thoughts.
A good read for people new to the subject matter. Get Lehane's book next (if you can find it).
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Summary: One chapter maybe worth reading
Review: After my recent trip to Ireland, my advisor recommended Cahill's book to me, so I ran to the store and grabbed one of the many copies of the shelves. "What was America reading?" I thought. "This book must be great!" Not only wasn't it great, it was greatly disappointing. My loves of history, religion, and Ireland were supposed to meld into beautiful prose and a well-woven story. Sadly, they did not, and there's only one chapter even worth reading (the one with the same title as the book). Much of the information attempted to be profound, but I found it to be a fairly superficial look at history and religion, and these two areas, especially in this case, deserve a better book than this one
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