 John Bradley Hirst <unk> ( 9 July 1942 – 3 February 2016 ) was an Australian historian and commentator . He has been described as an " historian , public intellectual , and active citizen " . Born in Adelaide , Hirst attended Unley High School and undertook his undergraduate and postgraduate study at the University of Adelaide . Abandoning an early desire to become a Methodist Minister , in 1968 he was appointed a lecturer at Melbourne 's new La Trobe University , where he remained until the end of his career . His wife and fellow @-@ student Christine accompanied him to Melbourne . They had two children , Catherine and David . Hirst was subsequently head of department and Reader in History at La Trobe . He retired in 2006 , and was an Emeritus Scholar at La Trobe until his death . Hirst had a distinguished career " in teaching , supervision and research . He developed new subjects and methodologies to teach them . In addition to those concerning Australian history there was his pioneering subject designed to inform students about Australia 's European cultural heritage . " This work was published as The Shortest History of Europe and has been translated into nine languages ( Swedish , Greek , Chinese , Spanish , German , Portuguese , Russian , Turkish and Korean ) . Hirst was seconded to the University of Melbourne to edit Historical Studies , Australia 's leading historical journal , from 1977 to 1980 . In retirement , he travelled regularly to Sydney to instruct , without remuneration , groups of post @-@ graduate students in thesis writing . 
