Last year, historian Eric Hobsbawn published what would turn out to be his final book, How to Change the World: Marx and Marxism 1840-2010. I had the pleasure to read it during some vacation time I took last December, and have had occasion to post the odd quote from the book, as well as to share an interview in which he discussed his views on the uprisings in the Arab world, Europe, and the US last year. It is likely that at least a few of us from my particular age group would have been exposed to Hobsbawm’s work for one reason or another, and I would highly recommend checking into his major works.
A few days ago he passed away. BLCKDGRD sez:
His Age of Tetrology (Revolution, Capital, Empire, Extremes) heavily influences my reading of the world. Here’s an article from 1977. Here is a book review he wrote on the Hungarian Revolution. Here’s Eagleton on Hobsbawm. Here are all Hobsbawm’s pieces in NYRB.
I do have a few notes intended as a review of Hobsbawm’s final book. At some point – though probably not until I have some more vacation time coming – I’d like to sit down and share a few thoughts about it.
