Rating: 
Summary: Light and divulgative.
Review: You can tell this author likes his subject. He is not a scholar and sometimes he makes assumptions, specially in the title, but the book is very pleasurable to read. I enjoyed specially the insights into Ireland's particular fashion of christianism and its links to the primitive irish character. The vision of a medieval world with lights and shadows is so much more rich than the simple and prevalent idea of a world cast in shadows for eternity. The author claims that the irish loved the books they copied and copied them unhindered by the "romanized" prejudice and despise for pagan perspectives. The author claims that the monks and saints that preserved these manuscripts loved their task. One has to agree when looking at the masterpieces done during this time of history. Dark times, may be, but full of splendor and honesty. Even if not very deep, this book is also a marvellous account of the richness of the beleaguered western civilization and how it is far fro! m the boring and homogeneous block that some of its defenders and detractors would like to present.
Rating:
Summary: A quick, informative, and interesting read
Review: I am not a scholar of history and know almost nothing of the Dark ages, let alone Irish history. In fact, I always thought the Irish to be somewhat uninteresting and waxed too hard and long on the glories of St. Patrick. But what a surpise. I picked up this book at JFK on the way home from a first time trip to Ireland, and found it to be a fascinating and thoroughly charming discussion of a land and people who deserved better than what I had given them. Yes, it was sometimes annoyingly written and a little silly, but on the whole, I enjoyed it very much and have recommended it to several of my friends. It whetted my appetite to sink my teeth into more "substantial" histories about the Irish, and I would never have done that without Cahill's inspiration.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast read with interesting slant on the topic
Review: I am apparently one of the great (historically) unwashed who never took a course in world history, not even in high school. So for me this book filled in a lot of missing pieces of how western civilization got from the Roman empire days to the Medieval days. It was entertaining and gave me a feeling for how things were during and after the Roman empire and what actually happened in and to Ireland. The title's claim was supported by the text though not as strongly as I expected. The book clarified for me some of the origins of the Catholic church which I found quite enlightening. As a historical non-schollar, I can only hope that the facts are accurate. I happened to listen to the book on audio tape while on a long drive so I don't know if there are many references to historical research in the printed version. Still, it made me want to find out more about this topic. Isn't that what popularized versions of history are supposed to do?
Rating: 
Summary: Any Irish/N. Irish schoolchild could have written this
Review: Very disappointing. Unfortunately, I fell for the catchy title. I felt the whole book's tone was summed up by Chahill's statement on the final pages that Jackie Onassis Kennedy had been kind enough to review the book and give helpful comments (or words to that effect). Well, unless I am much mistaken she is hardly the most eminent scholar of Irish history and nor is Cahill judging from this book. It is badly written, lacks both profondity and originality, and has a most irritating and condescending tone. I could have written it myself based on what I remember from school history classes a few years ago.
Rating: 
Summary: Really?
Review: Let me start by saying that I read this book with the intent to ridicule it. Since I am not born on the pristine Western Hemisphere, I find the title to be a preposterous claim at best. Obviously this book was written as a 'feel good book' for the Irish descendents in America. However, instead of a true portrayal of the valuable achievements of the Irish monks, the writer set off on a much worthier mission, lets save civilization itself. This book is written with, dare I say, a Euro-centric mindset. There is a lot of good material in this book that could have been better served had it not been dealt out by such extravagent claims.
Rating:
Summary: What a nightmare!
Review: Thomas Cahill's book is a feeble (and cheap) attempt to whip up Irish-American patriotism. In fact, a catchy title and an attractive cover are about the only things this book has "going for it." Cahill is completely misguided and presents his arguments with a chaotic incoherence. He is also misinformed. For ex., he states that the art of the medieval period was filled with smiling and playful demons, as it was meant to be perceived as "light" by the audience. It is common knowledge that medieval art, religious art, was on the apocalyptic end of the church propaganda spectrum. His tone is always condescending, as if he were speaking to a group of children who could never possibly comprehend the sophisticated arguments he's making. He attempts to elevate the Irish to the status of the saviors of civilization, but does so by mocking other groups, such as the Mormons (whom he calls uneducated). His style makes the topic itself less interesting. It is not scholarly or even acceptable for main-stream readers. I would love to read a book which deals with the same subject written by someone else, as the topic itself, divorced from Cahill's inaptitude, is fascinating and definitely overlooked by true scholars, since it deals with a transitional period. Probably THE worst book I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing at least
Review: I read this book due to the reviews found here at Amazon.com, what a disappointment. This book is not only disappointing but at times downright offensive. Cahill talks about Cicero being boring and Ausonius being pretentious, both these descriptions could and should apply to Cahill. The level of scholarship in this book is dismal at best. His attempts at being clever are no more than weak. His snide comments about Mormons and Jehovahs Witnesses (very out of place in a book proporting to be a history of the fall of Rome to Medieval Europe)are proof of his lack of study. The one thing that this book has to offer is the concise story of Saint Patrick, however there are many other and better sources for this.
Rating: 
Summary: Cahill's work very interesting though brief.
Review: I am a college student with very little spare time. Although doing very well, I find it impossible to persue my education outside of the institutionalized learning killing our current "civilization." Occasionally however, I make time to read a book that I find interesting. My mother bought this book for me because she knew of my interest and, in fact, love for Ireland and Irish things. I read the first few chapters almost out of obligation. I quickly realized, however, how much I was enjoying my reading. With very little time to spend, I stayed up late on Sunday night to finish it, because I knew if I didn't, I would neglect studies the rest of the week to read it. Finally finishing and retiring at two in the morning, I was happy and had learned a lot. While it's true what previous writers have said about the book, it is rather simple and touches fairly lightly on it's subject, it is a VERY good overview and focuses attention on an uncovered part of European history. In fact, it is mentioned by the paragraph in most textbooks. Imagine a society without almost any Latin literature, and you'll see how important their contribution was. When you add to it the realization that they retaught it to Europe before their tenuous surroundings destroyed their haven, you can realize they perhaps saved us from the historical "tar pit" that robbed us for thousands of years of the advances of civilizations like Egypt, Assyria and possibly Atlantis! Certainly, they deserve, at least, some notice for this. The author recognizes that his book is not an in depth study or work of investigative academia and, in my opinion, addresses it. In his Bibliography, if you got that far, he gives details about each source and what they held. This would be a very valuable reference if one were to choose to pursue the area further. If not, it is a very informative, interesting and colorful introduction to the history of far western Europe. There were many little historical tidbits that took me by surprise such as the role of women in the irish church (Bishops!). I would recommend it both to the casually interested and the serious student.
Rating:
Summary: Cocktail History
Review: The role of Irish monks in preserving classical literary and historical texts was something of a historical secret outside of Ireland. No longer thanks to Cahill. Yet, the reader learns precious little about this important history. Instead, the reader must enudre the smarmy, look-how-clever-I-am ramblings of an author who fancies himself as a renaissance scholar--seamlessly melding history, religion, anthropology, sociology and literature. Cahill's book reads more like an alumni weekend lecture--designed to entertain more than inform and better received if the audience has been drinking. The subject deserves much better.
Rating:
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.
|
