Thomas Cahill - How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe

Pros: some interesting bits of information if they're accurate
Cons: boring, tedious, dense writing in most parts, accuracy questionable

There are plenty of people who have read and written about the Roman Empire and its spectacular fall from power, plenty of books chronicling what we know of the dark ages, and countless tomes on medieval life, art and literature. There are few, however, ...

Pros: Brief survey of early medieval times is interesting
Cons: The analysis is about what I'd expect from a Juco extension professor

The girlfriend, she’s got one o’ them PhD.’s, in an academic discipline that requires her to be an expert in something called “discourse analysis.” I haven’t a clue what “discourse analysis” is, but I have a sneaking...

Pros: Thomas Cahill brings history alive and gives Ireland its due.
Cons: Some of the fine points might be Cahill's conjecture.

Before I take a trip, I am Amazon.com’s best customer, compulsively buying every guidebook, map, and book of the history of wherever we’re going that I can get my hands on. Of all the books I bought to prepare my family for our trip to Ireland, the one...

Pros: Well-written scholarly volume based largely on primary sources
Cons: Appeals too directly to the popular market to satisfy many professional historians

Thomas Cahill has provided his readers with a rare gift: a plausible glimpse backward through the heavy mists of the Dark Ages into the last feeble exertions of imperial Roman order. His chronicle offers insights into the character and personality of...

Pros: Well written and a pleasure to read.
Cons: Sometimes the poetry got tedious. But not often.

If pressed to name the greatest contribution that the Irish have made to civilization, I suspect that Guinness, a beer first brewed in 1755 in the heart of Dublin by Arthur Guinness, might be the first thing to pop into many people's minds. Others might ...

Pros: accessible, engaging historical account
Cons: none offhand

Let's be honest: "civilization" is kind of subjective.

But most people would agree that the foundations of WESTERN civilization are built on the philosophy and literature of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The epics of Homer and...

Pros: Covers a period of history often overlooked.
Cons: Lacks internal coherence and contains many factual errors.

I am sorry to depart from the prevailing view that this is a wonderful book. I really wished it were. My high hopes were disappointed and it was only my personal pride in finishing books I start that led me to plod on through this one. (Finishing...

Pros: None, it is only good to line the birdcage.
Cons: Absurd revisionism, historical errors, bigotry, and no sources.

This book was supposed to be about how Irish monks gathered & preserved crucial knowledge from the European continent between 500-800 A.D. during the "Dark Ages." However, there is only one chapter on the actual topic. He never mentioned where, ...

Pros: Fascinating history
Cons: too academic at times

Who knew? As the tide of barbarism swept Europe, a hardy band of Irish monks clung to their rocky green shore and kept the faith and the word of people like Plato alive for the the better future to come. My sense is that the title over states the case...

Pros: citation of historical sources that are not readily available about early Ireland; interesting writing style
Cons: creates "straw" institutions to attack; politically correct pop-psychological approach

I wish to add some examples of the poor scholarship in this book. Cahill conjectures that "Roman Catholic sensibility" would have been "deeply offended" that St. Brigid ruled a double monastery, which admitted both men and woman; but such monasteries ...