The Age of Hobsbawm
The Life of a Revolutionary Historian
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Harvard University Press
Publishing:4th Sep '26
£26.95
This title is due to be published on 4th September, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
An intellectual biography of Eric Hobsbawm, one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century.
Eric Hobsbawm (1917–2012) was one of the foremost European intellectuals of the twentieth century. He published hundreds of articles on modern history and culture, and his books became canonical works and bestsellers on both sides of the Atlantic. His crystal-clear writing, vast erudition, and ability to make his Marxist analysis digestible to a wide audience brought him worldwide renown.
Yet Hobsbawm was no academic hermit. Through his globetrotting journalism, he was embedded in an extraordinary web of politicians, activists, and fellow intellectuals across Europe, South Asia, and the Americas, including Manmohan Singh, Che Guevara, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Fernand Braudel, E. P. Thompson, Arno Mayer, and Salvador Allende. Emile Chabal traces the origins of Hobsbawm’s ideas and most famous writings by exploring his scholarly foundations, delving deep into the archives to uncover hidden links and unexpected conversations that shaped his pathbreaking work.
Going well beyond the Ages series of modern history books for which Hobsbawm is best known, Chabal offers the first substantial interpretation of Hobsbawm’s entire body of writing. Indeed, The Age of Hobsbawm is also a trove of unique insights into the generations of Marxist writers with whom Hobsbawm was in conversation—authors whose work continues to shape political debates globally.
At a time when historical research and teaching are under attack, Emile Chabal’s careful reconstruction of the life of one of the century’s greatest historians is both a major scholarly and an ethical act. Chabal offers a reckoning with Hobsbawm’s analytical successes and missteps from India to Latin America in addition to an ethnography of the historian’s craft. A love letter to the discipline as practiced at its highest level. -- Quinn Slobodian, author of Globalists and Hayek's Bastards
TheAge of Hobsbawm is something rare and special, a proper historical study of the ideas of a British historian. By placing Hobsbawm firmly not only in his times but in his many particular contexts—whether British, European, or global communism, elite higher education, or journalism—this book superbly enriches our understanding of his work and life. -- David Edgerton, author of The Rise and Fall of the British Nation
An impressive portrait of one of the great historians. Chabal deftly follows Hobsbawm through the twists and turns of his life, documenting the contours of his political commitment, his pursuit of historical knowledge, and his constant intellectual renewal. The result is a window into the many political and intellectual worlds of a remarkable scholar. -- Katrina Forrester, author of In the Shadow of Justice
Writing a biography of a historian like Hobsbawm is no mean feat. Emile Chabal has not just succeeded in pulling it off but also produced a book that all who admire Hobsbawm will read with great interest. By examining his subject as both a professional historian and an "engaged" intellectual, Chabal reveals the unique path that made Hobsbawm one of the greatest historians of our time. -- Shlomo Sand, author of The Invention of the Jewish People
ISBN: 9780674737761
Dimensions: 235mm x 156mm x 30mm
Weight: 672g
480 pages