Eric Hobsbawm

The Profile

Eric Hobsbawm (1917–2012) was a British historian and author, born in Alexandria, Egypt to a family of Viennese Jewish origin. He was a Marxist scholar best known for major syntheses of modern history.

Hobsbawm coined the period labels often called the "long nineteenth century" (1789–1914) and the "short twentieth century" (1914–1991). He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Francis Newton and produced influential works on social, economic and political history.

The available review (by cptgaio) examines Hobsbawm's The Age of Extremes, highlighting his periodization of the 20th century into "Age of Catastrophe," "Golden Age" and "Landslide." The reviewer praises Hobsbawm's rigorous method and dense, data-rich prose while noting the work's difficulty for casual reading. The review situates Hobsbawm as a major Marxist historian who coined lasting period concepts.