false 20 33 26 true 6497612 read 2 true 5404700 currently-reading 5 true 5404699 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78084417 to: How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe (Paperback) by Thomas Cahill
What a great book! It tells the story of how Irish monks preserved books while Europe was plunged into the Dark Ages. The monks would smuggle and save all kinds of books to Ireland while the Roman Catholic Church burned volumes they deemed heretic. The Irish had an insatiable appetite for knowledge that they copied any and all books, not just religious materials. While they copied books, the world's first universities was born. The book also tells the story about how the Irish embraced Christianity but kept their pagan side, and Ireland is the only country converted to Catholicism without bloodshed.

While the book is a slightly heavy on Catholicism, it does give insight on why Saint Patrick was able to convert the Irish, and how they still carry pagan beliefs to this day. The Irish Catholicism that formed during St. Patrick's time was wholly different from the Catholicism on the Continent during the Dark Ages. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78030075 to: Emberley Galaxy: A Tribute to Ed Emberley (Paperback) by Joe Kuth
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77817786 Small Time Operator: How to Start Your Own Business, Keep Your Books, Pay Your Taxes, And Stay Out of Trouble! (Small Time Operator) by Bernard B. Kamoroff
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76775513 to: Ghost World by Daniel Clowes
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76775492 to: Blankets (Paperback) by Craig Thompson
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76583166 Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories (Oxford World's Classics) by Montague Rhodes James
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75541501 to: Far Arden (Hardcover) by Kevin Cannon
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