Celebrating the Irish

In honor of St. Patrick's Day I thought I would do a short book review.  Well, more of a book recommendation and brief summary.

Last summer I read How the Irish Save Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe by Thomas Cahill and it was amazing.  It is one of the best history books I've read.  Cahill has a meter and tone that make the story flow in a way that keeps your nose in the book.
The story goes like this:
St. Patrick, a former slave of the Irish, returns to Ireland and preaches the gospel to the Irish.  The Irish being the kind of people who take something and hold on tight, become a united people and through the efforts of the rising Irish church become educated. The newly educated island dwellers begin grabbing up and hoarding any books they can get their hands on.  This is all happening before the Roman world collapses and falls into the Dark Ages.
When the pillaging vikings come calling the Irish hide their treasures in the ground.  But not only do they hide their tangible wealth they begin to hide their intellectual wealth as well.  Countless volumes from the Roman world and before were saved only in Ireland.  Without the Irish we might not have even heard of Homer, or the Greeks, or anything else before the Renaissance.
This book is a great read for anyone who likes a story.  Pick it up and get ready for a trip back in time.