A biography of St. Patrick
Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?
4 stars
[My review of the 12min summary]
(Actually, there are no snakes in this book.)
This book was written way back in 1905. Wikipedia says "it was the first truly authoritative biography of Saint Patrick." Supposedly Bury approached his subject from a historical perspective instead of a religious one. This summary, at least, bears this out.
I found the book quite interesting as history. It tells the story of St. Patrick's life and how it fit into European history at the time. His biggest impact, of course is how he converted Ireland from paganism to Christianity. Whether that is a good or a bad thing I will leave as an exercise to the reader. No matter where you fall on that question, this book is still worth looking at if you have an interest in the subject.
Final Notes (quoted from 12min) "While St. Patrick was not the first to introduce …
[My review of the 12min summary]
(Actually, there are no snakes in this book.)
This book was written way back in 1905. Wikipedia says "it was the first truly authoritative biography of Saint Patrick." Supposedly Bury approached his subject from a historical perspective instead of a religious one. This summary, at least, bears this out.
I found the book quite interesting as history. It tells the story of St. Patrick's life and how it fit into European history at the time. His biggest impact, of course is how he converted Ireland from paganism to Christianity. Whether that is a good or a bad thing I will leave as an exercise to the reader. No matter where you fall on that question, this book is still worth looking at if you have an interest in the subject.
Final Notes (quoted from 12min) "While St. Patrick was not the first to introduce Christianity to Ireland, he changed the shape of Christendom forever. With his missionary work in Ireland he firmly positioned Ireland within the larger framework of Europe and the world at the time."