Thomas Cahill, the historian known for books including the bestseller How the Irish Saved Civilization, has died at 82, the Associated Press reports.

Cahill, a Bronx native, was educated at Fordham University and Columbia University. He edited an anthology, Big City Stories by Modern American Writers, with his wife, Susan Cahill, in 1971; they followed that up two years later with A Literary Guide to Ireland.

But it was How the Irish Saved Civilization, which he published in 1995 with Doubleday, that made him a publishing star. The book, which a critic for Kirkus called “a delightfully written account, full of bold insights into the Irish character and its continuity through the ages,” became a huge hit, staying on the New York Times bestseller list for almost two years, and becoming a bookstore staple in the 1990s.

The book was the first in his Hinges of History series, which he continued with titles including The Gifts of the Jews, Desire of the Everlasting Hills, and Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea. His most recent book, published in 2013, was the sixth installment in the series, Heretics and Heroes.

Cahill’s readers paid tribute to him on social media. On Twitter, author Roger Boylan wrote, “Fine scholar, writer with a crisp, humorous style, and one of the foremost contributors to Ireland’s legacy.”

And writer Paul Elie tweeted, “RIP Tom Cahill: friend, co-conspirator, soul-force of the Community of Sant’Egidio near Times Square, foe of the death penalty, model for editor-turned-writer in midlife, gift-giver in more ways than I can say.”

Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.