Nineteenth Century Trilogy - (3 volumes)

Author: (English) Eric Hobsbawm
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features:
The Age of Revolution: A World Revolution Erupts from the Twin Volcanoes of Britain and France
The Age of Capital: An Era of Bourgeois Victory—Victors and Victims Share the Stage
The Age of Empire: The Concerns of the Age of Empire Show Overlapping Similarities with Modern Times
A World Revolution Erupts from the Twin Volcanoes of Britain and France. A serious, brilliant, powerful, and engaging book. —Peter Laslett, The Guardian
This work’s analysis is erudite, brilliant, and challenging, offering a clear exposition of literary, aesthetic, and technological achievements that is not only broad in scope but also highly innovative. —The English Historical Review
From 1789 to 1848, the entire world was shaped by the French political revolution and the industrial revolution that originated in Britain. This "dual revolution" gave rise to the modern society we know today. The author traces, with meticulous analysis, the transformations brought by the dual revolution to all aspects of European life: in warfare and diplomacy, in emerging industrial zones and lands, between farmers, bourgeoisie, and aristocracy, in government administration and revolutionary methods, in science, philosophy, and religion, in literature and art. Overall, however, he views this era as the period when industrial capitalism was established in Western Europe, as well as the time when Europe established its dominance over the rest of the world for a century. For the most significant 60 years in European history, the author provides an engaging and uniquely original argument, passionate yet objectively truthful. His two great works on the origins of Western modern society——《The Age of Revolution》and《The Age of Capital》—have become an integral part of the intellectual heritage of all educated British people. —The Observer
This brilliant book shines on every page (author) with its compelling decision-making ability to select fundamental themes and elaborate on them with rich examples from Europe and even the world—truly an extraordinary book! For the sake of heaven, and for yourself, read this book. —The Guardian
In The Age of Revolution, the author traces the changes in European life from 1789 to 1848 through the "dual revolution"—the French political revolution and the industrial revolution that originated in Britain. In the years that followed, the flames of revolution gradually died down. On the ashes of revolution, a new set of spirit and values emerged, collectively constructing the "Age of Capital." In the period between 1848 and 1875, the author conducts an in-depth analysis of the rise of industrial capitalism and the establishment of bourgeois culture. The global expansion of the capital economy, the continuous concentration of wealth, population migration, and Europe’s dominance over European culture all marked the third quarter of the 19th century as a turning point: it became a period of history, but not just European history, but also world history. The author’s purpose is not to summarize facts but to incorporate them into a historical framework, attempting to "understand" this histor...[more content]
The 19th century was the age of liberalism’s middle class, which forged a world for itself in the name of world progress and civilization. The Age of Empire is about the "strange death" of this century. It speaks of hope that became reality but turned into fear: an unprecedented era of peace gave rise to an unprecedented era of war; resistance and revolution appeared irrevocably on the periphery of a stable and prosperous Western society; the bourgeoisie faced a profound identity crisis, as the weight of their own accumulating wealth and comfort, the rapid rise of a new wave of anti-capitalist worker movements, and the rise of a new middle class against liberalism all collapsed their traditional moral system. It speaks of the almost nauseatingly easy way in which European small groups established and maintained several world empires—some lasting as long as human lifespans—and yet the moment after which Europe could no longer dominate world history with such confidence. It speaks of Queen Victoria, Marie Curie, and the Kodak girl, as well as the new society with bowlers, golf clubs, and brassieres. It speaks of Nietzsche, Carnegie, William Morris, and Dreyfus. It speaks of the terrorist without political achievement, and one of them, to his own and everyone else’s surprise, launched a world war.