Rating: 
Summary: The rise of modern civil society
Review: Hobsbawm is a prominent historian. This is the first volume of trilogy which covers from 1789 to 1914 of Europe. The first volume is about how the modern civil society emerged in Europe through dual revolution. Modern civil society emerged took shape with French revolution and Industrial revolution. While in England, civil society rose only through industrial revolution, nation-states in continent were shaped with dual revolution. Dual revolution eradicated ancient regimes and caused the great socioeconomic earthquake. The period this volume covers was mired in the influence of its impact. The author illustrates a convincing picture of that age: what were the impacts on society, economy, thoughts, religion, sciences, and arts; how the modern civil society was completed.
But that kind of subjects has been widely tackled. Then why another book on the mountain of paper? The advantage of the trilogy lies in its way of depiction. The author persuasively shows that the history is not only about institutions, or economy, but also about human drama: how the people lived through their time. Moreover, the trilogy was written not for colleague scholars but for layperson. It¡¯s easy and fun to read. But, no doubt, it doesn¡¯t mean that it lacks depth: the aim of the book, the author said, is not description but interpretation. In that way, the book was endowed with coherence as meaningful entity. It¡¯s the virtue that is hard to achieve in scholarly writing intended to be read by other scholars.
Rating: 
Summary: The dual revolution
Review: Hobsbawn wrote this book for those who wish to understand how and why the world has come to be what it is and where it is going. This is not a narrative history, and requires thought. The book is complex, but considering the topic and the length of the book, he has to be. But if your are an educated reader...you will like this book; and learn a lot from it about "isms" and how we use to live. Though I only gave it 3 stars, it is a must read.
Rating: 
Summary: European History for the Intelligent and Educated Citizen
Review: In The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848, Eric Hobsbawm examines sixty pivotal years beginning with the construction of the first factory system in Lancashire and the French Revolution in 1789 and concluding with the publication of the Communist Manifesto in 1848. According to Hobsbawm, the period was marked by two watershed events, the twin upheavals of the British Industrial Revolution and the contemporaneous French Revolution. Described as "twin craters of a larger, regional volcano," Hobsbawm stresses the far-reaching societal impact of these revolutions beyond the borders of the two rival nations. The introduction of a bourgeois middle class within a capitalist industrial reorganization of social relations formed what Hobsbawm identifies as "the greatest transformation in human history" since Mesopotamia. Giving rise to explosive new capital and social opportunities, the volcano unleashed unforeseen destabilizing forces capable of collapsing the top-heavy liberal, capitalist expansion. According to Hobsbawm, the publication of the Communist Manifesto marked the beginning of a worldwide social critique and chain reaction, testifying to the pervasive influence, at once promising and tragic, of the dual revolution in Britain and France.
Hobsbawm launches his discussion by first describing the agrarian/feudal world of 1780 and the preconditions that fostered the Industrial and French Revolutions. Britain was free of a feudal monarch, and private enterprise had been accepted in that nation for more than a century. Britain also had the natural resources and colonial empire necessary to provide the raw materials, primarily coal and cotton, to fuel a rapid industrial expansion. In France, the bourgeoisie formed an ideological consensus ripe for revolution, fueled by the classical liberal discourse of political philosophers and legal theorists who openly critiqued an abusive, debt-laden aristocracy. Whereas the Industrial Revolution fundamentally altered the conditions of labor, giving rise to a new social order, the French Revolution exposed the vulnerability of the ancien regime and provided the paradigmatic shift supporting the rise of the middle class. In the remainder of his discussion, Hobsbawm unravels the far-reaching significance of the two revolutions, demonstrating the infusion of such fundamental concepts as private property, market economy, upward mobility, secularization, scientific invention, and freedom of expression. However, he also underscores the adverse side effects of the new order. Hobsbawm describes the inherent weaknesses of capitalist society as reflected in the literary Romanticism of the era; the bourgeois world was void of social connection, having divorced man from his unity with nature, and exchanged personal worth for callous exchange value. 1789 ushered in an age of superlatives, but the discontent of the laboring masses and rumblings of counter-revolution were already set to explode by 1848.
Rather than trace the development of capitalism and liberalism, Hobsbawm assumes their formative pre-existence and aims to uncover their manifestation within two major historical events. The advantage of this method is his ability to identify the origins of bourgeois society within a particular period of rapid social change and focus the argument toward the fallout of these revolutionary processes. Although he supports his analysis of the social consequences of the revolutions referencing a diverse range of topics, including religion, scientific innovation and the arts, he refrains from presenting a systematic history of the period. In the process, his argument tends to drift into a reflection of loosely connected curiosities, dampening the force of his message. Despite this, Hobsbawm's contribution as a conceptual framework is a valuable tool for understanding the significance of 1749 as well as the events following 1848.
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPIECE
Review: It is quite dificult to find a History book who is well written and also makes you think about the subject. This is the main diference about Hobswamn. He makes you think, and I believe this is the main aim for a Historian. It is curious for me that one of the reviewers complaints about the lack of interest that the author shows for the American revolution. Maybe if we think in the world of XXth century or XXIst one we can consider this situation quite strange, but in the XVIIIth century the new born United States were not important in the world. Besides the influence of the principles of the American constitution cannot be compared with the influence of the French revolution. In the last book of the serie The Age of Catastrophe is when the rol of the United States is more important so he makes a brilliant anylisis of its influence in Contemporary History.
This book and the other three are very didactic and I recomend them as a very useful reading for teachers and pupils. Specially as a teacher I think that this book creates a great starting point to begin a debate at class. Even when your class is full of teenagers who ussually think History is a boring matter.
Rating:
Summary: A MASTERPIECE
Review: It is quite dificult to find a History book who is well written and also makes you think about the subject. This is the main diference about Hobswamn. He makes you think, and I believe this is the main aim for a Historian. It is curious for me that one of the reviewers complaints about the lack of interest that the author shows for the American revolution. Maybe if we think in the world of XXth century or XXIst one we can consider this situation quite strange, but in the XVIIIth century the new born United States were not important in the world. Besides the influence of the principles of the American constitution cannot be compared with the influence of the French revolution. In the last book of the serie The Age of Catastrophe is when the rol of the United States is more important so he makes a brilliant anylisis of its influence in Contemporary History.
This book and the other three are very didactic and I recomend them as a very useful reading for teachers and pupils. Specially as a teacher I think that this book creates a great starting point to begin a debate at class. Even when your class is full of teenagers who ussually think History is a boring matter.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: The author has, with this book, achived something great. He has managed to write about one of the most complex periods in European and World history in an acurate and detailed manner, whilst keeping it throughly readable. Why past reviews have attacked a lack of mention regarding the American Revolution escapes me. I would suggest that it is the French Revolution that warrents far greater attention due to its profound effects on political systems worldwide, and this book dose just that. For anybody interested in the transformation from absolutist to nationalist Europe, this is a mst read.
Rating:
Summary: Among the best survey's of the era.
Review: The sign of a well-written and well-argued book is that it is one that challenges your world view by making you re-think and review your position. It doesn't matter that it convinces you, it matters that it makes you sharpen your thought process. The Age of Revolution does this well. Hobsbawm's Age of Revolution (and his entire "Age of..." series) sees western history in marxian terms, a distinctly non-American approach. I must admit that I have a special affinity for Age of Revolution. I first read it in the early 80's as an undergraduate in history and while it didn't make me anywhere near a marxist it was the first to allow me to see history from a different angle than conventional/traditional histories. I've been a reader of Hobsbawm ever since, disagreeing- often- with his analysis, but always respecting his perspective. Age of Revolutions deals with the decisive era that began with the French Revolution and ends with the revolutions of 1848 (and includes of course the Industrial Revolution). Hobsbawm writes as from a generalist perspective for the general reader of history (for non-historian's at least some background in Western European history is recommended before tackling this book). A classic writing of European history.
Rating:
Summary: Among the best survey's of the era.
Review: The sign of a well-written and well-argued book is that it is one that challenges your world view by making you re-think and review your position. It doesn't matter that it convinces you, it matters that it makes you sharpen your thought process. The Age of Revolution does this well. Hobsbawm's Age of Revolution (and his entire "Age of..." series) sees western history in marxian terms, a distinctly non-American approach. I must admit that I have a special affinity for Age of Revolution. I first read it in the early 80's as an undergraduate in history and while it didn't make me anywhere near a marxist it was the first to allow me to see history from a different angle than conventional/traditional histories. I've been a reader of Hobsbawm ever since, disagreeing- often- with his analysis, but always respecting his perspective. Age of Revolutions deals with the decisive era that began with the French Revolution and ends with the revolutions of 1848 (and includes of course the Industrial Revolution). Hobsbawm writes as from a generalist perspective for the general reader of history (for non-historian's at least some background in Western European history is recommended before tackling this book). A classic writing of European history.
Rating:
Summary: Serious Economic History
Review: This is an economic History, so if you want an introduction to this period, this book is NOT the place to start. Read Durant's last two volumes ("Rousseau and Revolution" and "The Age of Napoleon", and/or Gordon A. Craig's "Europe: 1815-1914" if you're looking for details on who was in power, what battles were fought, what the main works of art were, etc. But if you are curious about why and how the Industrial Revolution created so much hardship and how the French Revolution changed the European attitude toward revolution in general, this is the book to read. Hobsbawm is a well-known Marxist, but it was the events of this age that spawned Marxism, and it behooves us to understand why that was. For this purpose, you couldn't ask for a better guide. Unfortunately, Hobsbawm is a moderately difficult read. Take it a little bit at a time.
Rating:
Summary: Serious Economic History
Review: This is an economic History, so if you want an introduction to this period, this book is NOT the place to start. Read Durant's last two volumes ("Rousseau and Revolution" and "The Age of Napoleon", and/or Gordon A. Craig's "Europe: 1815-1914" if you're looking for details on who was in power, what battles were fought, what the main works of art were, etc. But if you are curious about why and how the Industrial Revolution created so much hardship and how the French Revolution changed the European attitude toward revolution in general, this is the book to read. Hobsbawm is a well-known Marxist, but it was the events of this age that spawned Marxism, and it behooves us to understand why that was. For this purpose, you couldn't ask for a better guide. Unfortunately, Hobsbawm is a moderately difficult read. Take it a little bit at a time.
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