For your reading pleasure

I have been tagged for a meme by Wendy who's blog is here. The rules are to pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more, find page 123, find the fifth sentence, post the next three sentences, and then tag five people. There seems to be a dispute about whether this means sentences 5-7 or sentences 6-8. But since the book I am taking a selection from has really long sentences and sentence five is near the bottom of the page, I will assume 5-7.

I am not currently reading any books, but one of my favorite history books was within reach. It is How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill. Here is the selection from page 123:

This thirty-year span of Patrick's mission in the middle of the fifth century encompasses a period of change so rapid and extreme that Europe will never see its like again. By 461, the likely year of Patrick's death, the Roman Empire is careening in chaos, barely fifteen years away from the death of the last western emperor. The accelerated change is, at this point, so dramatic we should not be surprised that the eyes of historians have been riveted on it or that they have failed to notice a transformation just as dramatic--and even more abrupt--taking place at the empire's periphery.

I'm not sure if this selection will convince anyone to read the book, but it at least captures the idea that the book tries to communicate. Which is that something important was happening in Ireland during this time of history and that most people have completely ignored it because we have a tendency to concentrate more on the Roman Empire or other Important Empires rather than the barbaric edges of civilization.

Well, I would recommend the book to anyone who enjoys reading history.

However I do not like passing along things like this. So this meme ends here. You may do it yourself if you like.