• 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
  • Narrated by: Donal Donnelly
  • Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (921 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
How the Irish Saved Civilization  By  cover art

How the Irish Saved Civilization

By: Thomas Cahill
Narrated by: Donal Donnelly
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.46

Buy for $13.46

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

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 world-view 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.

©1995 Thomas Cahill (P)1999 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, a Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Cahill's lovely prose breathes life into a 1,600-year-old history." (The Los Angeles Times)

"Charming and poetic...an entirely engaging, delectable voyage into the distant past, a small treasure." (The New York Times)

"Cahill's lively prose breathes life into a 1,600-year-old history." (The Boston Globe)

What listeners say about How the Irish Saved Civilization

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    374
  • 4 Stars
    226
  • 3 Stars
    189
  • 2 Stars
    73
  • 1 Stars
    59
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    272
  • 4 Stars
    123
  • 3 Stars
    108
  • 2 Stars
    57
  • 1 Stars
    42
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    279
  • 4 Stars
    160
  • 3 Stars
    98
  • 2 Stars
    35
  • 1 Stars
    28

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • P
  • 08-15-04

Fascinating book

Yes, the opening chapter or two is on the Roman world, and it's slow. Once you get past that (feel free to skip ahead), it's absolutely fascinating. He gives fascinating information on Ireland, Patrick, the monks who copied all the old books, Irish art, and the unique Irish perspective on life.

Worth every penny - once you get past the Roman intro. He does that to give a foundation, but the first time you listen to it, just skip it. Go back later and listen to it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Not titled

Very well read. You have to get used to the parts where he alters his voice to emphasize characters speaking, but then again, after a few hours even that turns out to be kind of humerous at times and quite enjoyable.

This is not a Fodor's guide to Ireland or even a day by day history of Ireland, it's an account of how the Irish monks saved history in written form (among other things.) While the world was burning all the books it could the Irish monastic leaders were collecting all the works of their neighboring world and translating (even transcribing) them for study and posterity. A society that was once nearly illiterate SAVED scores of written works! (Are you not with me here?) The stories of the Romans, Greeks and barbarians are necessary to understand just how (and why) the Irish managed to save the written texts and thus the history of a great deal of what is now Europe. Forget the negative reviews, for they are from people that wanted a history of Ireland and ordered the wrong book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Ponderous history

This is a quick review - interesting content...dreadful delivery. The narration was either very uneven or SOOOO SLOW and PONDEROUS that I quickly drifted off. Buy the book instead, unless you need a sleeping aid (for which I use this recording).

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Would be 5 stars except for the reader

The reader is awful. Listening to the man try to pronounce Latin, or anything that requires an accent, is torturous. His pace is excrutiatingly slow. The content was fascinating but the guy who read it was horrible and took a lot of enjoyment out of this audiobook for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Deceptive title

If you expect to learn about the awesome history of the Irish clergy and the early history of the Irish people, try another book. This book seems to be a compilation of the author's lectures which range from Virgil onward. Very disappointing and not worth the time and money.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A rambling but fun listen

Not just the Irish - the entire medieval history is fair game for this meandering but intelligent and fun author. I listened to it at a faster speed to save time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Decline of Rome and subsequent Irish history

I found this to be extremely well written with an occasional condecending tone (not sure if it was implied by the reader or from the author, I'd have to listen to those sections again)when expressing a personal observation.
The reading was excellent and appropriate to the subject. It may not be the accustomed style, but worked well here.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

History made interesting

From my early school days this part of our history I always found drab and boring. The time of the Tuatha De Danan, St Patrick and the Celts were more about rocks and stones than people, but this book makes a difference. It is filled with fascinating characters, gives an intriguing background to stories such as the Táin Bó Chulainn etc. Donal Donnelly reads it well but sometimes lapses into stage Irish when quoting. Overall a rich and rewarding listen. Highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A Great Introduction to Ireland and St. Patrick

This book is extremely enthusiastic about its topic and does a brilliant job in tracing the great influence that Irish peoples had on medieval Europe and thereby all of civilization. It starts with a long discussion of the collapse of the Roman Empire, then moves to St. Patrick’s conversion of Ireland. There are many comparisons made between St. Patrick & St. Augustine. It draws out the great differences between the 2 both in idealology &* methodology – these differences greatly impacting the traditions that followed each.

The book also delves into the history of the Celts and their crazy pagan ways. Finally, the second half draws out the main theme. It deals with the way Ireland so quickly became Christianized & literate. Then Irish monks snatched up books from all over Europe whenever the rest of Europe was hitting its lowest point of chaos brought on by the constant Barbarian invasions. Irish monks saved many of our now most precious Latin and Greek ancient texts, recopied them and preserved them. Later, Irish monks re-Christianized much of Britain and continental Europe after much of these peoples had lost touch with civilization.

The book is a great intro into the vast impact Ireland had on civilization. The author inserted his own opinions into the book. This was enjoyable & insightful - particularly when he drew out how Irish Catholicism was less unified & more lax on the rules (like the role of women in church leadership). On the other hand, I did not enjoy the fact that the author wrote about Christianity as if it was a tool by which mankind improved itself, but that Christianity in itself is not true any other than any other religion. The author clearly does not believe in any hint of real miracles or real mythology.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Unable to understand narrator

I could not listen to this book, the narration is horrible. Note to author, make sure you hire a narrator who can speak clearly.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful