Good day to you all, SoBros Network Patreon subscribers. Welcome to the SoBros Book Club, on which I will share some book recommendations for those of you who enjoy taking in the written word. Today, we’re discussing How the Irish Saved Civilization from Thomas Cahill.
With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, I’ve got the perfect book recommendation to celebrate it. Cahill blends Middle Ages history with a celebration of Irish culture as he takes us from the fall of Roman civilization through the life and times of St. Patrick himself. All the while, he’s insinuating that the preservation of culture that Irish monks performed at this time, and their will to spread and grow their teachings, helped keep alive the documented history of the world itself. It’s a doozy.
In this delightful and illuminating look into a crucial but little-known “hinge” of history, Thomas Cahill takes us to the “island of saints and scholars, ” the Ireland of St. Patrick and the Book of Kells. Here, far from the barbarian despoliation of the continent, monks and scribes laboriously, lovingly, even playfully preserved the west’s written treasures. With the return of stability in Europe, these Irish scholars were instrumental in spreading learning. Thus the Irish not only were conservators of civilization, but became shapers of the medieval mind, putting their unique stamp on western culture.
From scrolling through the Goodreads reviews, it seems as though there’s an awful lot of folks who apparently picked this book up thinking the title was a literal proclamation that Irish monks saved the world. That’s not the case…at least for me, I kind of felt this was tongue-in-cheek, at least a little bit. Given how fondly Cahill writes of the Irish spirit, I felt it was more of a harmless boast than hard dissertation. It’s the same principle as you and I debating who the greatest football player of all time is. We have our feelings and our facts, but there’s no way to truly know – it’s still about what we believe. It’s obvious that Cahill believes that the Irish played an integral role in preserving what we know about the ancient world. I’m cool with that! I never once thought he was calling St. Patrick Iron Man or anything like that.
There’s a little pop history here, for sure. Maybe that’s a turnoff for some, but it wasn’t for me. It’s not necessarily that Cahill presents any new information that you wouldn’t have gotten in a basic ‘history of Western civilization’ course, but it’s the way that he weaves the events of the time together in a coherent and linear manner that makes it such an interesting perspective on the time. In other words, I didn’t take it so seriously.
It’s an easy read, a real weekender, that gives you a fun little introduction to St. Patrick and this period of Irish history. If you don’t know much about early Irish culture or St. Patrick, I’d imagine this is a great place to start. If you do know a lot about Irish history and St. Patrick, just have some fun with this one. Hear Cahill out.
Other SoBros Book Club Features
- The Boys in the Boat
- Dodge City
- Fevre Dream
- The Junction Boys
- Meddling Kids
- Murder Most Festive
- Nuclear Jellyfish
- Playing for Pizza
- Pretty Paper
- The Toynbee Convector
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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