| How the Irish Saved Civilization | 
 enlarge | Author: Thomas Cahill
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: CDN$ 16.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  187 reviews
Sales Rank: 24905
Media: Paperback
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.5
ISBN: 0385418493
Dewey Decimal Number: 941.501
EAN: 9780385418492
ASIN: 0385418493
Publication Date: February 1, 1996
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Condition: Save a tree, buy from Green Earth Books. Ships from USA; Allow 2 to 3 weeks for delivery. All books guaranteed. Read -> Recycle -> Reuse
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| Customer Reviews:
 Fantastic portrait of the Celtic Church -- but who did they save civilization from? February 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Cahill's tribute to early Celtic Christianity is powerful and heart-felt. I've never seen a finer account of St. Patrick's life and times. And then Cahill captures an era of powerful authenticity for the young Celtic church. As he respectfully reports, the Irish were sending both female and male apostles to mainland Europe. A recently discovered sarcophagus in Amay, Belgium is decorated in the old Celtic style, and bears the image of a woman holding a bishop's crosier. The image is labeled "Saint Chrodoara". And a medieval Irish text called the Martyrology of Tallaght names 119 female saints, though of these, the life stories of only four (Brigid, Monenna, Ite, and Samtham) are now known.
Of course this outburst of spirit was quelled for the sake of conformity with a church of imperial Rome. And Irish Catholicism settled into a quieter era, featuring a genial tolerance for pagan tradition, and devotion to book learning. Cahill makes a strong case that the Irish text copyists and scholars saved our heritage of classical thought from the ravages of a barbaric age. But I want to ask Cahill -- was it the so-called barbarian invaders of Europe who tried to destroy the classical heritage? Or was it more the imperial church itself, with its drive to suppress older pagan traditions of religion, philosophy and art? Does Cahill blame the nomadic migrants for what the church itself did? Who was it really, that the Irish Celtic Church saved civilization from?
A grain of salt? June 16, 2006
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Cahill is the bigot here? Or is it just people who want history to remain the way it, clean mainland European driven? Who could stand the thought that the Irish actually did something civilized. Revisionism is certainly annoying and dangerous, but this is new (as in newly brought to attention) historical fact. And I believe people are misinterpreting Cahill, he is not really proposing that the Irish created and further elaborated Christian culture beyond the means of ignorant mainlanders, but rather they preserved and advanced to a reasonable degree what already existed. It is history light, but one should be open to new ideas and concepts.
 1 IS TOO MANY!!!!! March 9, 2006
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
The Negative reviewers are all correct. Where are the details? The author never answers several key questions. Where did these monks get their books? How long did their handful of monasreies last? If the Irish church was so pure and superior, why did the Europeans adopt the more organized "Roman Church?" He also bashed Mormons, Germans, Chinese, Hispanics, and the very Greco-Roman Civilization that he falsely claims was saved by a handful of monks. This is a horrid book! The publisher should be sued for printing this bigoted revisionism!
Drivel!!!!!!! January 26, 2006
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is the worst propaganda I have ever read! The author negates to mention that the Irish monks needed to get their books from the far more accomplished ITALIAN BENEDICTINES! That in itself negates both the premise and title of this book!!! Also, their is no evidence that the Germanic tribes destroyed all of the Roman schools and libraries. Men like Theodoric the Ostrgothic king in Italy built along with the local bishops scores of libraries, as did later Frankish kings in what would become France. He gives no credit at all to the Benedictines, Jews, Muslims, and Greek-Byzantines! Does any logical reviewer really beieve that Roman Civilization was so shallow that it could not survive some invaders? Roman society survived constant civil wars, famines, and plagues that were more destructive than the invaders. I ask the other reviewers if the continent of Europe had been denuded of books as the author claims, where did the Irish get their BOOKS??? Richard Fletcher's Barbarian Conversion is a far more worthy book.
 Wonderful July 8, 2004
3 out of 9 found this review helpful
I'm 18 years old and many people wouldn't expect someone my age to read something like this. But this is one of the best and even entertaining books that i have ever read. This book offers historial facts with out making it seem boring and long winded as some others can potray history. I read it from cover to cover, when i usually look for only parts that interest me. The author Thomas Cahill bring his personality into the passages so it seems more of a discussion rather than a one sided lecture. Cahill also brings hummor into it and makes the concepts understandable while bringing the big picture along for support. It seem that Cahill has done an amazing about of research for this book and personally i think that's amazing while considering its an enjoyable book. The suject of this book is so interesting and its a new way to this about the Irish culture. I can't begin to tell you how much i live this book! Its worth the money a thousand times over!!!!!
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