
How the Irish Saved Civilization
The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe
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Narrated by:
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Liam Neeson
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By:
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Thomas Cahill
About this listen
The perfect St. Patrick's Day gift, and a book in the best tradition of popular history - the untold story of Ireland's role in maintaining Western culture while the Dark Ages settled on Europe.
Every year millions of Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but they may not be aware of how great an influence St. Patrick was on the subsequent history of civilization. Not only did he bring Christianity to Ireland, he instilled a sense of literacy and learning that would create the conditions that allowed Ireland to become "the isle of saints and scholars" - and thus preserve Western culture while Europe was being overrun by barbarians. In this entertaining and compelling narrative, Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era.
Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization - copying manuscripts of Greek and Latin writers, both pagan and Christian, while libraries and learning on the continent were forever lost - they brought their uniquely Irish worldview to the task. As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated.
In the tradition of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, How the Irish Saved Civilization reconstructs an era that few know about but which is central to understanding our past and our cultural heritage. But it conveys its knowledge with a winking wit that aptly captures the sensibility of the unsung Irish who relaunched civilization.
©1997 Thomas Cahill (P)1997 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, a Division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Liam Neeson's rich, smooth voice delineates each element of political, religious, and cultural alliance." (AudioFile)
"Cahill's lovely prose breathes life into a 1,600-year-old history." (The Los Angeles Times)
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Story
Pocket History: The Troubles chronicles the 30 year long Irish Troubles. It begins right at the start with the first English invasion of Ireland and continues right up until present day, answering the question of what does the legacy of the troubles mean for modern day Irish and British people.
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Too slanted to be taken seriously
- By Ky on 01-25-22
By: Dermot P. O'Hara
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Irish Fairy Tales and Folklore
- By: W. B. Yeats
- Narrated by: Ailish Jeffers
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Dive into the enchanting world of Irish folklore in this captivating compendium of fairy tales, songs, and poems compiled and co-written by Nobel Prize-winning Irish wordsmith W. B. Yeats.
By: W. B. Yeats
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Ireland’s Forgotten Past
- A History of the Overlooked and Disremembered
- By: Turtle Bunbury
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Ireland is approximately the size of the state of Indiana, yet this small country boasts an extensive, rich, and fascinating history. Ireland's Forgotten Past is an alternative history that covers 13,000 years in 36 stories that are often left out of history books.
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Loved it
- By Maureen Ann Coates on 11-28-22
By: Turtle Bunbury
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The Famine Plot
- England's Role in Ireland's Greatest Tragedy
- By: Tim Pat Coogan
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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In this sweeping history, Ireland's best-known historian, Tim Pat Coogan, tackles the dark history of the Irish Famine and argues that it constituted one of the first acts of genocide. In what the Boston Globe calls "his greatest achievement", Coogan shows how the British government hid behind the smoke screen of laissez faire economics, the invocation of divine providence, and a carefully orchestrated publicity campaign, allowing more than a million people to die agonizing deaths and driving a further million into emigration.
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Atrocities abound.
- By GMJ on 06-05-18
By: Tim Pat Coogan
A Grand Account
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Clear expression of History
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How the Irish Saved Civiliz,ation
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Wishing for more...
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Excellent story - outstanding performance
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A great distillation of a very complex subject into enjoyable and thought provoking spirits.
A great read
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A Masterful Telling
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who narrated this book it's not Liam Neeson
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Great History
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Excellent!!
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