Thomas Cahill

Thomas Cahill (born 1940 in New York City) is an American scholar and writer. He is best known for The Hinges of History series, a prospective seven-volume series in which the author recounts formative moments in Western civilization. To date, the series includes the following five best-selling books:
*"How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe" (1996)
*"The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels" (1999)
*"Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus" (2001)
*"Sailing the Wine Dark Sea: Why The Greeks Matter" (2004)
*"Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe" (2006)

Biography

Cahill was born in New York City to Irish-American parents and grew up in Queens and the Bronx. He received a Jesuit education, studying ancient Greek and Latin. He carried on his Jesuit education at Fordham University, obtaining a B.A. in classical literature and philosophy in 1964, and a pontifical degree in philosophy in 1965. He received an M.F.A. in film and dramatic literature from Columbia University in 1968.

In anticipation of writing "The Gifts of the Jews", Cahill studied scripture at Union Theological Seminary in New York, and spent two years as a Visiting Scholar at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he studied Hebrew and the Hebrew Bible.

Cahill has taught at Queens College, Fordham University, and Seton Hall University. Prior to writing full time he was the Director of Religious Publishing at Doubleday. He lives with his wife Susan in New York and Rome. He has four sisters, one brother, a daughter, a son, one grandson and two granddaughters, and many nieces and nephews.

Published books

*"Big City Stories by Modern American Writers", with Susan Cahill, Bantam, 1971
*"A Literary Guide to Ireland", with Susan Cahill, Scribner, 1973
*"Jesus' Little Instruction Book", Bantam, 1994
*"How the Irish Saved Civilization", Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 1995
*"The Gifts of the Jews", Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 1998
*"Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus", Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 1999
*"Pope John XXIII", Viking, 2002
*"Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter", Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2003
*"Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe", Available in hardcover from Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2006
*"A Saint on Death Row", Forthcoming from Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2008

External links

* [http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/pep/pepdesc.cfm?id=2479 Thomas Cahill in conversation with Margaret Atwood] at LIVE from the New York Public Library, December 1, 2006.
* [http://www.randomhouse.com/features/cahill/ Official site]
* [http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12282007/watch.html Bill Moyers Journal Thomas Cahill]
* [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/thomas_cahill/index.html The New York Times Thomas Cahill]