Eric Lawton reviewed The Age of Extremes by Eric Hobsbawm
Review of 'The Age of Extremes' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
This is my second reading. I've read his entire Age of xxx series and several other works. Hobsbawm is a socialist so you get a more of a look at the interplay of social, economic and political forces than the history of battles and leaders that the more traditional historians often provide.
His look at communism includes both the popular movements and the authoritarian states that resulted.
He also looks at other social movements such as feminism, and other major social factors such as the arts and the role of the sciences, along with their enablers and impacts.
Definitely worth a read to provide a non-standard viewpoint, very well researched and well written.
Update on finishing: Now I remember why I liked it so much the first time. A lot of detail I didn't see even through the last few decades when I was reading the news.
His final chapter …
This is my second reading. I've read his entire Age of xxx series and several other works. Hobsbawm is a socialist so you get a more of a look at the interplay of social, economic and political forces than the history of battles and leaders that the more traditional historians often provide.
His look at communism includes both the popular movements and the authoritarian states that resulted.
He also looks at other social movements such as feminism, and other major social factors such as the arts and the role of the sciences, along with their enablers and impacts.
Definitely worth a read to provide a non-standard viewpoint, very well researched and well written.
Update on finishing: Now I remember why I liked it so much the first time. A lot of detail I didn't see even through the last few decades when I was reading the news.
His final chapter remarks on "today", written in 1994 addressed issues that he saw as emerging 25 years ago mean that his disclaimer about not predicting the future was unnecessary; he picked up on trends that were emerging and now have become obvious to the rest of us, including "fake news" and climate change.
