How the Irish Saved Civilization

Cahill, Thomas. How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe. First Anchor books Trade paperback edition . Hinges of History, v. 1 series. New York: Anchor Books of Penguin Random House, 1996. 9780385418492; Genre--History When Rome collapsed and Europe descended into chaos, the most unlikely of guardians came forward to preserve Western thought: Irish Monks.  Through those "Dark Ages," these dedicated scholars preserved the treasures of classical learning--the written legacy of Greece and Rome--and the religious texts of the the Christian tradition, safeguarding the cultural wisdom that might otherwise have vanished forever.  What's more, they did this sometimes with remarkable creativity and joy.  Their tireless work copying manuscripts and maintaining centers of knowledge ensured that the intellectual foundations of Western European civilization survived to inspire future generations.   When peace r