LAST CHAPTER

‘How the Irish Saved Civilization’ Author Thomas Cahill Dies

Cahill’s most famous book sold some 2 million copies. “What academic writers forget is that everyone on Earth buys books for diversion, or entertainment,” he once wrote.

Thomas Cahill, author of How the Irish Saved Civilization, died at his Manhattan home of a heart attack, The New York Times reported. He was 82. A scholar of languages and history, the Bronx-born Cahill planned for the book to the first in a series he called the “Hinges of History.” A surprise hit, it sold 2 million copies and spent two years on the Times’ best-seller list after its 1995 publication. Cahill wrote six installments in the series, many of which were also popular, thanks to his rich storytelling. “What academic writers forget is that everyone on Earth buys books for diversion, or entertainment,” he once wrote. “Yes, they want to learn things, but they also don’t want to be bored to death while they learn those things.”