As of last night I left at home all the books that I've been reading and am starting a new batch at the place where I'm house sitting.

This one book is fascinating. It's by Thomas Cahill and titled 'How the Irish Saved Civilization' (The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe) Printed in 1995, I must say that parts of the inexorable fall of Rome sound alarmingly familiar.

That title may sound risible but it is not meant to. It is a serious treatment of Roman history, replete with all the nation states and barbarians surrounding it.

I haven't gotten to the 'heroic' role of the Irish yet; at this early point they are among the barbarian hordes.

It is so well written and almost chatty with its effortless translations of Latin writers to English prose, it is a new experience for me. I'm lovin' it.