Age of Empires

Author: [British] Eric Hobsbawm
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1999-01-01
Features: Advanced regions dominate backward regions, the imperialist world has taken shape, but humanity's disaster has thus descended. In the West, this was largely a period of prosperous peace; outside the West, it was undoubtedly an unprecedented era of war and turmoil. Yet, the liberal social order was advancing towards death, and the wise had already sensed the impending great catastrophe. 1914 would shatter the myth built over a century. Although written by a professional historian, this book is not written for other scholars. It is written for all who wish to understand the world and believe that history is very helpful in understanding it. While I hope it will give readers some insight into the 40 years before the Second World War, the purpose of this book is not to tell them what actually happened during this period. If readers wish to learn more about the historical facts, they can consult the vast and often quite excellent body of literature. What I tried to achieve in this book, like the previous two volumes—The Age of Revolution 1789-1848 and The Age of Capital 1848-1875—is to understand and interpret the 19th century and its place in history, to understand and interpret a world in the midst of revolutionary transformation, tracing our modern roots from the soil of the past; or, more importantly, to view the past as a cohesive whole, rather than (as historical specialization often forces us to believe) a collection of separate topics such as national history, political history, economic history, cultural history, and so on. Since I first became interested in history, I have always wondered how these aspects of life in the past (or present) are connected and why they are connected. Thus, this book (with occasional exceptions) is not a narrative or systematic exposition, nor is it meant to display erudition. The reader is best to view it as a demonstration of theory, or more accurately, to trace the same theme through each chapter. Although I have done my best to make it accessible to non-historians, the reader must judge for themselves whether this attempt has succeeded. I cannot thank many authors, even though I often disagree with their views, yet I have plundered their works. I have no way of thanking the many ideas I have gained over the years from conversations with colleagues and students. If they recognize their own ideas and statements in this book, they can at least blame me for misunderstanding them or the facts, perhaps I did. Nevertheless, I can still thank those who allowed me to concentrate my full attention on this long period into this book. In 1982, I gave a course of 13 lectures at the Collège de France, completing the draft of this book. I am very grateful to this awe-inspiring institution and to Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, who extended the invitation. From 1983 to 1985, the Leverhulme Trust gave me a position as a visiting fellow, which allowed me to receive research assistance. The Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Paris and Clemens Heller, as well as the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University and the Macdonnell Foundation, enabled me to complete the main text of this book in a few quiet weeks in 1986. Among those who assisted me in my research, I am particularly grateful to Susan Haskins, Vanessa Marshall, and Dr. Jenna Park. Francis Haskell proofread the chapters on the arts, Alan Mackay proofread the chapters on science, and Pat Thane proofread the chapters on women's liberation, which helped me avoid some errors, though I fear I may still have made mistakes. Andre Schiffrin read the entire manuscript as a friend and a typical educated non-expert—with this non-expert in mind, this book is written. I have been teaching European history to students at Birkbeck College, University of London, for many years, and without this experience, I doubt I would have conceived of writing a history of the world in the 19th century. Therefore, this book is also dedicated to those students. Eric Hobsbawm