- Hardcover: 640 pages
- Publisher: Michael Joseph Ltd; 1st ed edition (27 Oct 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0718133072
- ISBN-13: 978-0718133078
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.2 x 5.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 142,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Review
A magnificent piece of historical exposition... an essential read. (INDEPENDENT )
A masterpiece (GUARDIAN )
A brilliant and stimulating book. (FINANCIAL TIMES )
The power of Hobsbawm's exploration of the age of hot and cold wars lies in its brilliant synthesis of familiar, though sometimes forgotten, facts and ideas. It combines an Olympian, multi-lingual erudition and an addictive, readable style. (Ben Pimlott, INDEPENDENT on Sunday Books of The Year ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
A masterpiece (GUARDIAN )
A brilliant and stimulating book. (FINANCIAL TIMES )
The power of Hobsbawm's exploration of the age of hot and cold wars lies in its brilliant synthesis of familiar, though sometimes forgotten, facts and ideas. It combines an Olympian, multi-lingual erudition and an addictive, readable style. (Ben Pimlott, INDEPENDENT on Sunday Books of The Year ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
As the historian Eric Hobsbawm says, "We are now in a position to rethink much of our past history, including that of the 20th century, as well as our past ideas about what to expect of the world's future." With this in mind, Hobsbawm has written a history based on his wide personal experience - he was born in the year of the Russian revolution and was in Berlin when Hitler was appointed Chancellor. The book falls into three main chronological divisions: "The Age of Catastrophe 1914-1950", an era of wars, crises, revolutions, fascism and, in general, cataclysm; "The Great Leap Forward 1950-1973", a period which has seen the most rapid and spectacular transformation in world history; and "The Age of Crisis 1973-1991", a period in which both communism and old certainties collapsed. The book is global in scope, including in its ambit the geopolitical shifts in wealth, power and cultural influences and the rise and fortunes of the non-European North American world. Written from the point of view of someone who believes in reason and science and in the potential improvement of the human situation, this book aims to reshape our view of the 20th century and concludes with the author's speculations and predictions of developments in the 21st century.
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First Sentence
On the 28 June 1992 President Mitterrand of France made a sudden, unannounced and unexpected appearance in Sarajevo, already the centre of a Balkan war that was to cost many thousands of lives during the remainder of the year. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
On the 28 June 1992 President Mitterrand of France made a sudden, unannounced and unexpected appearance in Sarajevo, already the centre of a Balkan war that was to cost many thousands of lives during the remainder of the year. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The depth and breadth of the author's knowledge and research make this an awesome, if at times heavy, book.
For me, its greatest asset is the way that this book takes familiar elements and weaves them into a coherent whole. The individual portraits presented in this book are detailed in themselves, but when they are portrayed as a single panorama of the twentieth century it is incredible to behold.
This detail is also the book's downside. In those sections where I had too little existing knowledge to build upon I found the prose too dense and anecdotes distracting - but that may say more for my history than the author's prose.
If you are looking for an superficial way to put the events of the twentieth century in context, then this book is not for you. But if what you seek is a way of building and interlinking your existing knowledge of the twentieth century then you will certainly not be disappointed by this amazing book.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The research which has gone into this book is amazing. The author has lived through almost all of the age he discusses and uses frequent personal anecdotes both to illustrate and provide reason for his views. The book argues a strong case, the central thesis being that the events of the twentieth century are without precedent in their scope and speed, and that their momentum cannot last for the sake of humanity. Although Hobsbawn's political and academic bias is obvious; the long narratives on the Soviet Union and frequent examples using Latin American countries being cases in point, his arguement is both compelling and well researched. An essential read both for those who wish to understand the past, and the increasing numbers, who, given recent events would like an insight into the choices which face us in the future.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is most certainly not a book to read if you're looking for a simple 'what happened' of the 20th century, for example it doesn't concern itself with the minutae of the two world wars but deals with the major 'why' questions that concern Historians today.
Hobsbawn makes no apology for his own views, admitting that he would be unable to write a totally impersonal account of a period he lived through, and its certainly true that his leftwing political opinions show through clearly.
What your own opinions may be shouldn't matter though, and you should take a step back and consider the detail and well constructed arguments he makes on topics as diverse as the rise of Totalitarianism in the 1930's and science and technology in the post-war years. For someone with a basic understanding of the 'whats' of the 20th century, this is an extremely interesting way to expand your own knowledge.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great stuff
This book is a fantastic peice of work that was exactly what i needed for my university course. i would definatly reccomend it to anyone who is interested in History or Sociology... Read more
Published 8 months ago by JonnyFairclough36
Old fashioned proper history
Not an easy read, but a comprehensive judgment from a 'Marxist' historian of the old school. Asks all the right questions and provides some well reasoned answers.
Published 14 months ago by J. Davies
Monetary policy errors
Likely explanation of what happened during the 20th century after the mismanagement of the first globalization in the world economy! Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mario Pines
Good,but overrated.
I wonder where some of the other reviewers got the idea that Hobsbawm is a Marxist.He was a Stalin-worshipper who developed doubts after the 1956 Hungarian Uprising and gradually... Read more
Published 20 months ago by PygmyTwylyte
An ambivalent tome.
I don't wish to test the patience of the reader, who wants to find out as quickly as possible what are the flaws and pros of the book. Read more
Published on 11 Mar 2010 by Eoin Yekrab
Interesting Book
Although I'm not a leftist, I read many of his books, especially the four ones about the past Centuries. Read more
Published on 28 Jun 2009 by Fulvio Arman
erudite - but unreadable
The research, understanding & in depth knowledge is amazing. To genuinely understand & cram so much into one paperback deserves so much more than the 2 stars I have given. Read more
Published on 11 April 2008 by lapin rouge
Either too much or too little for readability
Whatever its merits, and they are undoubtedly many, for someone who knows little history this book would, most charitably, not be a great place to start - so this review is really... Read more
Published on 25 July 2007 by Jm Leven
Either too much or too little for readability
Whatever its merits, and they are undoubtedly many, for someone who knows little history this book would, most charitably, not be a great place to start - so this review is really... Read more
Published on 28 Jun 2007 by Jm Leven
unreadable marxist version of history
This is a difficult book to read if you want a straightforward honest account and interpretation of history as relating of history is somewhat schizophrenic, jumping around between... Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2005 by Frank Lloyd Wright
Listmania!
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