Eric Hobsbawm
Yesterday (Oct 1) celebrated British historian Eric Hobsbawm succumbed to a long illness at the age of 95. Hobsbawm was a giant in the profession, a pioneer of social history and an engaged public historian. He is also one of the first historians whose work I connected to. I admire his writing, his breadth of expertise – he wrote on subjects as diverse as jazz, sports, bandits, the industrial revolution, public ceremony and 18th-century social movements – his unwavering commitment to the Left, and his ability to write popular history that is also serious scholarship.
The Guardian’s obituary is worth reading. For the next week you also can listen to a BBC tribute entitled “Hobsbawm: A Life in History“, that brings together Hobsbawm’s recent interview with Simon Schama as well as older archival audio clips.
Daniel Ross 