Luck of the Irish

For those of you out there who find history boring, you've never had a teacher like Thomas Cahill. I was first introduced to this author by Hugh Hewitt, author of In, But Not Of. In his encouragement to young professionals to learn a bit of this and that, he lists books everyone should read to gain a working knowledge of history (I'll give a complete list sometime). One book he happens to suggest there is The Gifts of the Jews, which I read about a year or two ago and was instantly turned on to Mr. Cahill. This book, How the Irish Saved Civilization, happens to be the first in the "Hinges of History" series, and the best in the series, I think. The series takes an interesting look at the history of the Western world, not through the tragedies, catastrophes, and wars, but of the gifts bestowed from one civilazation to another--through the Irish, Hebrews, Christians, Greeks so far, and he is expected to publish three more volumes in the next decade.
For those of you who need some extra encouragement, I remembered to pick this one up while reading John Eldredge's new book The Way of the Wild Heart, a follow up to his bestselling Wild at Heart. Eldredge has a love for all things Celtic, and when he mentioned this volume, I just had to make a trip to B & N and pick it up, and I suggest you do too.