After his national service, he attended Worcester College, Oxford, where he graduated with a second-class degree in modern history in 1953, followed by a Diploma in Social Anthropology.
[1] He was also active in administration, serving as the chair of the university's departmental board for history, and as a member of the Royal Historical Society's council.
In his early work, he focused on social structure in cities, particularly Padua between 1256 and 1328, covering all classes except the poorest, for whom records were lacking.
[2] When Hyde died suddenly, his final "subtle and ambitious"[1] work on changes in literacy and written material in late-medieval Italy was left unfinished.
[1][3] Robert Oresko writes in a review for History Today: "For a project which has been the plaything of a cruel fate, the focus is admirably clear, the argument coherent and fascinatingly nuanced.