Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm CH FRSL FBA (/ˈhɒbz.bɔːm/; 9 June 1917 – 1 October 2012) was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. A life-long Marxist, his socio-political convictions influenced the character of his work.[1] His best-known works include his trilogy about what he called the “long 19th century” (The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789–1848, The Age of Capital: 1848–1875 and The Age of Empire: 1875–1914), The Age of Extremes on the short 20th century, and an edited volume that introduced the influential idea of “invented traditions“.
Hobsbawm was born in Egypt but spent his childhood mainly in Vienna and Berlin. Following the death of his parents and the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, Hobsbawm moved to London with his adoptive family, then obtained his PhD in history at the University of Cambridge after serving in the Second World War. In 1998 he was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour. He was President of Birkbeck, University of London, from 2002 until he died.[2] In 2003 he received the Balzan Prize for European History since 1900 “for his brilliant analysis of the troubled history of 20th century Europe and for his ability to combine in-depth historical research with great literary talent.”
Books in order of publication:
| Labour’s Turning Point: Extracts from Contemporary Sources | 1948 |
| The Jazz Scene | 1959 |
| Social Bandits and Primitive Rebels | 1960 |
| The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789–1848 | 1962 |
| Labouring Men: studies in the history of labour | 1964 |
| Pre-Capitalist Economic Formations | 1965 |
| Industry and Empire: From 1750 to the Present Day | 1968 |
| Bandits | 1969 |
| Captain Swing | 1969 |
| Revolutionaries: Contemporary Essays | 1973 |
| The Age of Capital: 1848–1875 | 1975 |
| Italian Road to Socialism: An Interview by Eric Hobsbawm with Giorgio Napolitano | 1977 |
| The History of Marxism: Marxism in Marx’s day, Vol. 1 | 1982 |
| The Invention of Tradition | 1983 |
| Worlds of Labour: Further Studies in the History of Labour | 1984 |
| The Age of Empire: 1875–1914 | 1987 |
| Politics for a Rational Left: Political Writing, 1977–1988 | 1989 |
| Echoes of the Marseillaise | 1990 |
| Nations and Nationalism Since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality | 1991 |
| The Age of Extremes | 1994 |
| Art and Power: Europe Under the Dictators exhibition catalogue | 1995 |
| On History | 1997 |
| 1968 Magnum Throughout the World | 1998 |
| Behind the Times: Decline and Fall of the Twentieth-Century Avant-Gardes | 1998 |
| Uncommon People: Resistance, Rebellion and Jazz | 1998 |
| Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto: A Modern Edition | 1998 |
| The New Century: In Conversation with Antonio Polito | 2000 |
| Interesting Times: A Twentieth-Century life | 2002 |
| Globalisation, Democracy and Terrorism | 2007 |
| How to Change the World: Tales of Marx and Marxism | 2011 |
| Fractured Times: Culture and Society in the 20th Century | 2013 |
| Viva la Revolucion: Hobsbawm on Latin America | 2016 |
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