The Age of Empires (1875-1914)

Author: Eric Hobsbawm (English) translated by Jia Shiren
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-01-01
Features: Although written by a professional historian, this book is not intended for other scholars. It is written for all who wish to understand the world and believe that history is helpful in understanding it. While I hope it provides readers with 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 that period. If readers wish to learn more about the facts, they can consult the vast and often excellent body of literature available. What I have tried to do in this book, just as in the previous two volumes——《The Age of Revolution 1789-1848》and《The Age of Capital 1848-1875》—is to understand and explain the 19th century and its place in history, to understand and explain a world in the midst of revolutionary transformation, tracing the roots of our modernity 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. Therefore, this book (with a few exceptions) is not a narrative or systematic account, nor is it meant to display erudition. Readers are 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, readers 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 helped me 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 deeply grateful to this awe-inspiring institution and to Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, who extended the invitation. From 1983 to 1985, the Leverhulme Trust granted me the position of an Honorary 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 mistakes may still remain. Andre Schiffrin read the entire manuscript as a friend and a typical educated non-expert—with this book being written for such non-experts. I have been teaching European history to students at Birkbeck College, University of London, for many years, and without this experience, I doubt whether 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