Revolutionaries - by Eric Hobsbawm (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Now back in print after thirty years, Revolutionaries is vintage Hobsbawm, written masterfully amid one of the century's most intense periods of political and social upheaval, putting those events in historical context. Few observers were as astute as Hobsbawm at probing, criticizing, and clarifying radical movements, whether in Beijing or Berkeley. Ranging from historical investigations into communism to contemporary appraisals of revolutionary movements and meditations on Marxism, Hobsbawm's commentaries are essential guides to ideas and people that changed the face of the twentieth century.

Hobsbawm's essays retain a freshness that speaks both to his brilliance as a writer and scholar, as well as to the perennial importance of his subjects. At a time when the very concept of revolution has been largely discredited, these essays remind us of the enduring importance of radical investigations into-and solutions to-society's persistent inequalities and injustices.

Review Quotes

"A highly readable, lucid and well written book from which any student of contemporary revolutions can derive a great deal of profit."
-NEW STATESMAN

"For sheer intelligence, Hobsbawm has no superior in the historical profession."
-THE GUARDIAN

"What distinguishes Hobsbawm is his ability to describe, make sense of, and provoke debate about the changing nature of the modern world as a whole."
-THE WASHINGTON POST

About the Author

Eric Hobsbawm (1917-2012) was born in Egypt in 1917 and educated in Austria, Germany, and England. He taught at Birkbeck College, the University of London, and the New School for Social Research in New York. He is the author of The Age of Revolution, The Age of Capital, The Age of Empire, and The Age of Extremes as well as On History, Uncommon People, Industry and Empire, Bandits, On the Edge of the New Century, Revolutionaries, On Empire, Fractured Times, and his memoir Interesting Times (The New Press).