Magazine
Latest Issue

Eric Hobsbawm: A British internationalist

One of Britain's greatest historians, he influenced academics across the world—but his political beliefs hampered his later works

By Ramachandra Guha   November 2012

Eric Hobsbawm’s books demonstrate that Marxists can write with flair and feeling

In 1980, as a beginning graduate student in Kolkata, I was directed by my thesis supervisor to a short, pungent piece by Eric Hobsbawm that had just appeared in the journal Past and Present. This was a response to a previous essay in the same journal by Lawrence Stone, which celebrated the “revival of narrative” in historical writing. In Stone’s view, this was a welcome departure from the arid, analytical, social-scientific and (not least) Marxian trends that had…

It’s three months since our new website launched

For TODAY ONLY you can get full access for the next three months for just 21p.

That’s just a penny for every 1,000 articles you can enjoy on our new site, which features:

  • An improved archive
  • Better content curation
  • A dedicated “long-form” template

This offer is available for TODAY ONLY—start your three-month trial for just 21p now!

Subscriptions automatically renew at prices starting from just £42 a year after your initial trial period. If you choose to cancel during your trial period, you will only ever pay 21p.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to letters@prospect-magazine.co.uk

More From Prospect