Where the Love of Books and Music is Always Brewing

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After love, book collecting is the most exhilarating sport of all. -- A Book Hunter's Holiday, A. S. W. Rosenbach
 

1). Title of Book: How the Irish Saved Civilization (order)
Author of Book: Thomas Cahill

2). Title of Book: A World Lit Only by Fire (order)
Author of Book: William Manchester

Two books come to mind this month as excellent companion pieces. The first, How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill is a superb introduction to the efforts Ireland’s monks took to preserve civilization’s knowledge during the Dark Ages. Ireland’s monastic libraries literally carried the keys to western civilization during a time when the European continent was a shambles politically, socially, and culturally. Although this book is densely packed with information, the work unfolds in such a way as to keep the reader interested--and amazed--until the very end.

The companion piece to this work is A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance- Portrait of an Age by William Manchester. This book has earned a place on my all-time favorite books list. Although it’s not a new book, it works so well with Cahill’s piece that reading them as a pair will enrich both. Manchester’s book assumes a high literacy level on the part of readers: it’s the rare book I have to read with a dictionary close by, but this is one work that demands that kind of effort...and it’s well worth it.