Perspective

The Age of Revolution first appears in 1962. This is a time in world history when one of the largest world powers is the communist Soviet Union. It is therefore not surprising that Hobsbawm would choose the emergence of capitalism, socialism and communism as political theories as one of the important threads examined in his book. In the period following World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in the Cold War, a war of ideologies often fought by proxy in other parts of the world. Framing his history in strong economic terms seems to reflect the perspective of the time in which the book is written, and probably resonates strongly with readers of the day.

Hobsbawm is British, and his examination of this period is centered largely on developments in Britain and Britain's chief adversary for much of the time frame, France. There is certainly...