list of books on Ireland. One title on the list:

How the Irish Saved Civilizationby Thomas CahillDoubleday, 1995

Dreadful title, outstanding book. This is the work that most assists a deeper understanding of Ireland's spirit. If the question is "How did an island of 33,000 square miles daub such a wide green stripe across the globe?," Thomas Cahill has the answer. His learning matches the depth of field, and his powers of overview and summary can settle eons of debate. "Whether insoluble political realities or inner spiritual sickness is more to blame for the fall of classical civilization is, finally, beside the point," he writes. The point, he says, is that Irish monks, drinking deep from the Latin and Greek of what was called "civilization," gave it out to theworld from their scriptoria in the Middle Ages and thus prevented its death. The book is in itself an illuminated manuscript.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Lynda Bellingham is best-known for roles in All Creatures Great And Small and At Home With The Braithwaites. Her memoir Lost And Found: My Story is out now in Britain.

She told the Daily Express about her six best books. One title on the list:

One Hundred Years of Solitudeby Gabriel García Márquez

I love books evocative of a place or culture and this book is so poetic. It’s about life in South America and expresses everyday things from a not everyday perspective. It took over my life and when I finally finished it I was bereft. Off-the-wall and unique.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

At the Guardian, John Mullan named