The Age of Capital: 1848-1875 (Paperback)

by Eric Hobsbawm (Author) "Early in 1848 the eminent French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville rose in the Chamber of Deputies to express sentiments which most Europeans shared: 'We..." (more)
Key Phrases: revolutionary zone, liberal triumph, mass nationalism, United States, Habsburg Empire, Latin America (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
'What a book! For heaven's sake, and your own, read it! GUARDIAN 'Brilliantly conceived and equally brilliantly written' ASA BRIGGS 'Brilliant and wide ranging' AJP TAYLOR, OBSERVER 'Excellent' NEW STATESMAN 'A book filled with pleasures for the connoisseur and amateur alike' ECONOMIST --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
In this book, Eric Hobsbawm chronicles the events and trends that led to the triumph of private enterprise and its exponents in the years between 1848 and 1875. Along with Hobsbawm's other volumes, this book constitutes and intellectual key to the origins of the world in which we now live.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 354 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Books ed edition (November 26, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679772545
• ISBN-13: 978-0679772545
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #82,378 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars um, September 6, 1999

By A Customer

name a single European event that happened between 1848 and 1875...quick! My guess is that a lot of non-Europeans would have a hard time with that one. Yet it was an astonishingly influential period, the time when both capitalism and imperialism became truly, irreversibly entrentched. Hobsbawm tells the tale masterfully. Reading the book, it's hard to believe he didn't actually live through this time himself. The book is a superb marriage of narrative with historical detail. Read it. Read all three.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Marxist Historiography!, January 20, 2004

By A Customer

Um, a few observations are in order. Firstly, Marx's critique of history, economics, and society must not be confused with the later activity of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, nor Ho Chi Min: just because they used Marx as their point of departure does in no way diminish Marx's project. Secondly, Hobsbawm is a Marxist historiographer--not a Marxist per se. Thirdly, the period 1848-75 witnessed some remarkably convulsive and important events: 1) the Crimean War [Britian burned on the Black Sea], 2) the Dano-Prussian War [Prussian victory at Düpple], 3) the Austro-Prussian War [Prussian victory at Sadowa], 4) German unification under Bismarck, and 5) the Franco-Prussian War which resulted in the spectacular German victory at Sedan, the collapse of the Second Empire, the Paris Commune, and the establishment of the Third Republic. Need we say more? Get the book.

9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Golden Age of Capitalism, August 1, 2000

By	Gregory N. Hullender (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After the collapse of the Revolutions of 1848, Europe as a whole was pretty quiet until 1914. Economically, however, the period is divided by a serere economic downturn areound 1875. This book covers the first part of this period, when European and American Capitalism grew strong.

Since Hobsbawm is a Marxist, he's not much of a fan of this period, but his coverage of it is quite evenhanded and honest. Again, as in the first book, he's challenging to read, but worth the effort.