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In this delightful and illuminating look into a crucial but little-known "hinge" of history, Thomas Cahill takes us to the "island of saints and scholars," the Ireland of St. Patrick and the Book of Kells. Here, far from the barbarian despoliation of the continent, monks and scribes laboriously, lovingly, even playfully preserved the West's written treasury. When stability returned in Europe, these Irish scholars were instrumental in spreading learning, becoming not only the conservators of civilization, but also the shapers of the medieval mind, putting their unique stamp on Western culture.

From Publishers Weekly
An account of the pivotal role played by Irish monks in transcribing and preserving Classical civilization during the Dark Ages.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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First Sentence:
On the last, cold day of December in the dying year we count as 406, the river Rhine froze solid, providing the natural bridge that hundreds of thousands of hungry men, women, and children had been waiting for. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Middle Ages, Mac Roth, John Scotus, Book of Kells, Iron Age, Saint Gall, Art O'Leary, Dark Eileen, Dying Gaul, Boyne Valley, Clan Conaill, Eternal City, Irish Christian, Mark Antony, North America, Pangur Ban, Penal Laws, Roman Africa, Tuatha De Danaan New!
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