I very much regret this book, because it’s very bad.

I mean the title is a dead giveaway that we’re not off to a good start. Cahill then doubles down by not defining civilization, casually stereotyping the Irish (but it’s okay! they’re not worthless! they’re noble savages!!), misrepresenting when he’s not being outright incorrect about the Late Roman Empire, and then completely eliding the role of Islam in preserving Classical texts. He has a very bad tendency to make grand, sweeping statements that are a) completely exaggerating what evidence there is for his claim or b) outright wrong. Were the Irish monks important in copying Classical texts? Yes! Does this constitute saving civilization (whatever that is)? No!!! Yikes.