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

 genre: history

This book traces classical Western scholarship and thought from the Romans and Greeks through to the Middle Ages, illustrating how Irish Christianity and book-loving kept literacy alive after the fall of Rome.  I sort of thought that was what it would be about but I admit, the first part of this book was pretty boring.  A lot of dry information about the intricacies of Roman and Greek thought - we hardly talked about the Irish at all until at least a third of the way through the book. Once the author finally got going about the Irish, though, it was super interesting and compelling!  He makes some great arguments here - and although I'm no historian, it seems like there is some depth and consequence in what he sees as the role the Irish played as they copied books and sent monks out into the dreary medieval world.

What I didn't love was how sometimes what clearly was myth seemed to be touted as historical fact - I really like being able to know the difference between historical record and fiction.  I can imagine sometimes it's hard to decipher the farther back you go, but this just made it a bit harder for me to be all in with what I was reading.  

I'm glad it wasn't longer than it was and I'm glad I read it for the last 2/3.  Definitely put some ideas about Ireland and its history into a wider context.