How the Irish Saved Civilization

Rating:
Summary: A Superb mix of writing and narration
Review: I am very impressed with this Audio presentation of this book. I have always wanted to know about the fall of Rome and the history that followed. This incredibly narrated book by Liam Nielson brings to life in vibrant pictoral verbeage the important figures that helped establish and save civilizaton. I love the Gastalt view the author brings as to what was happening that brought Rome to her knees and what brought salvation to Ireland. The history is amazing and so well revealed in this narration of Cahill's work.
I highly recommend this Audio version as Nielson is captivating in his expression of the language and his broug doesnt hurt either. The fleshing out of Augustine,St.Patrick and the times they lived in and their effect on the future is truly superb. I have learned much from this history lesson and look forward so much to other works of this author. Having an hour long drive a day has made the audio version exquisit. ENJOY JB

Rating:
Summary: BORING BOOK
Review: This is a very BORING book. Only read it if you have to for class, and then only if you can't find enough quotes for your essay without reading it.


Rating:
Summary: HOW HALF THE IRISH WENT TO HELL
Review: My mother got really upset with me when I said this book's title should be changed to the aforementioned title. Maybe a better question should be, WHICH IRISH, AND HOW DO THEY INTEND TO DO IT??? And hey, what about some of the Scots, as another reviewer mentioned!!! I'm not so sure the history told in this small book is all that accurate. The book is a little disjointed and is filled with pictures of celtic trophies, dishes, flagons, statues, and swords. It's written for the commoner. Someone recommended R.F. Foster's history of Ireland which is more substantive than this book.

The bottom line from this book is that the Irish saved civilization by literacy, by promoting scholarship, by preserving written works. But how much of that history is true, or how much of it is truly, authentically christian, for the country of Ireland, catholic and protestant, is predominately a christian nation? I, at first, loved the ending, the last few pages of this book. I agree the world will be saved by saints, although scripture indicates that the saints will be defeated, trampled upon by this beast, which represents all the combined evils amassed against G-D's people. Please see Daniel Chapters 2, 7, 12 and Revelation Chapter 13. When that happens, people will finally begin to see that they are a part of that mob and, for Christ's sake, better get out of it.

This book was a favorite of Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis and former President Bill Clinton.

Rating:
Summary: Full of Wit and Song
Review: As the descendent of an Irish lad born and immediately orphaned in the workhouse of Macroom, I may be hopelessly biased in my adulation of this book. "How the Irish Saved Civilization," is brilliant historical synthesis, wholly accessible to any armchair student of history. More than a read, it is literary romp. Mr. Cahill has written an examination of Irish history and culture that everyone Irish should read.

My grandfather, the same lad born to such unfortunate circumstance, though penniless was never poor and always full of wit and song. He bore uncanny resemblence to the mythic characters portrayed in this book. His gift was passed to me when he took hos grandchildren aside at an impressionable age and revealed our noble heritage as "descendants of the First Kings of Ireland." This "secret" family knowledge conveyed an abiding sense of worth that made the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, endurable and humorous. Such is Irish heritage and such is the resonant message of this book.

For anyone who enjoys insightful, colorful historical summation this is an infallible selection. Cautionary warnings about the book's summary nature are lost on hostory lovers.

My admiration for Thomas Cahill knows no bounds. The positivity he brings to his historical subjects in the "Hinges of History" series clearly derives from an appreciative heart and masterful grasp of subject. "How the Irish . . ." has the dazzle of a love born labor. It is important to recall from time to time, what the sung (and unsung) intersections of civilization have brought us. The Hinges of History series is a great tool in the box of remembrance.

Rating:
Summary: Relatively Accurate but Simplified History
Review: Cahill writes in an extremely compelling manner. I enjoy his prose greatly. His works are quick and entertaining reads. That said, he often goes overboard on his books and his theses, and simplifies complex history. He did this with The Gifts of the Jews and he does it here with How the Irish Saved Civilization.

Cahill is right that certain ancient and medieval civilizations hold a prominent place in the development and advancement of ideas and thought systems that govern much of the modern world. The Irish undoubtedly are one of them. Irish Christianity preserved a lot of classical learning of the Greeks and early Christian texts. They re-introduced these ideas to continental Europe and were key in the spread of monasticism. However, to claim that the Irish actually "saved" civilization is going a little too far. Saving what Cahill calls "civilization" was a joint effort that included the Irish, the Anglo-Saxons, the Franks, the Normans, the Byzantines, and the Arab Muslims, Turks, and Persians. In fact, during the Carolingian Renaissance undertaken by Charlemagne in the early 9th century, there was a flowering of Christian and classical learning undertaken by scholars brought from both Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England. The primary character in this was Alcuin, an Anglo-Saxon monk. Alcuin was primarily responsible for establishing schools and re-introducing classic philosophy, literacy, and rhetoric. Classical texts were preserved in England as well as Ireland. Ireland did play a prominent role, shared by the Anglo-Saxons. And the Franks were the ones who ultimately established the tradition of European Christianity and its strong basis in society and culture.

The Roman civilization did not truly fall until the mid-15th century. People forget very easily that it was only the western Empire that fell in the 5th century, the east continued for another thousand years under the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines did not destroy or forget classical learning. Byzantine Christianity was characterized by philosophical speculation in continuance of the ancient Greek manner. The emperor Justinian also codified Roman civil law, which became the basis for the continental legal structure. When the Arab Muslims began rising and conquering the Byzantine Empire, much of that classical learning in philosophy, medicine, and mathematics was not only preserved but expanded upon by the Muslims. The Muslims excelled in fields such as trigonometry, algebra (an Arabic word), medicine and anatomy. And the Muslims preserved at least one tradition that all of Europe, including the Irish had lost: Aristotelian philosophy. Platonism and neo-Platonism was the primary philosophical bent among medieval Christendom, it wasn't until the Muslims reintroduced Aristotle to Europe, at their world-class university in Cordoba, Spain that a new era began that led to the empirical, scientific exploration of the world preceding and carried on by the Italian Renaissance. We also have a Muslim woman to thank for the discovery of vaccination, brought back to Europe by Lady Montagu.

As another review pointed out, "civilization" means more than the Christian texts. It is politics, culture, economics, science, philosophy, language, etc. The Irish had little to do with many of these things, for which we have the Anglo-Saxons, Norman English, the French, the Italian, the Byzantine, the Muslims, among others to thank for. Oh, and I forgot to mention the Scots. History is a very complicated affair; beware of simplified conclusions. The Irish DID play a role in the development of the medieval and modern worlds, however, civilization would have turned out just fine without them.