I would like to thank Mary Helen Haines for recommending How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill for review. It is a delightful book that not only describes the heroic role that Ireland played in history ―from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe; but also captures the Irish sense of humor in the telling. This review is from the paperback addition published by Anchor Books, a division of Random House, Inc., copyright 1995 by Thomas Cahill.

In chapters 1 and 2, the author gives a synopsis of the slow decline and final fall of Rome to the barbaric hoards of Europe. In the introduction, he talks about the value of peace, prosperity, and leisure for developing the sort of culture experienced in the heyday of Rome. He discussed what was lost in the sixty years from 410-476 from the Sack of Rome to the death of the last western emperor. During this time the ignorant barbarians destroyed the peace and confidence of the civilized Romans as well as their great classic culture. Philosophy and educa­tion went by the wayside as the Roman citizens fought to just survive. The Dark Ages were born.

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