About the Author

Eric Hobsbawm was born in Alexandria in 1917 and educated in Vienna, Berlin, London and Cambridge. He is the author of numerous classic works of history. He died in October 2012.

George Rudé was a distinguished Marxist historian and renowned expert on eighteenth-century history. He died in 1993.

Reviews

"Eric Hobsbawm is one of the few genuinely great historians of our century."-- "The New Republic"

"Hobsbawm's brilliant and engaging polemic succeeds both in highlighting what was revolutionary about the French Revolution and showing how people have argued angrily about it ever since."--Peter McPhee "author of Liberty or Death: The French Revolution"

"It is good to rub the revisionist sand from one's eyes and read: 'The absurdity of the assumption that the French Revolution is simply a sort of stumble on the long, slow march of eternal France, is patent.' Eric Hobsbawm is right, of course."--Gwynne Lewis "author of The French Revolution and Life in Revolutionary France"

"Much of his argument is addressed to historians of the Left, but his general conclusions will interest all historians of the modern world."--Nancy C. Cridland "author of Books in American History: A Basic List for High Schools"

"Nobody is better qualified to explore such a theme, for the range and penetration of Hobsbawm's writings on modern European history have long been the envy and admiration of other scholars."--William Doyle "author of The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction"

"This is a vigorous, refreshing, and learned brief on behalf of a venerable historiographical tradition. It reminds us of the obvious but often overlooked truth: that there are no definitive interpretations, certainly not of an event so primal and transcendent as the French Revolution."--David P. Jordan "author of The Revolutionary Career of Maximilien Robespierre"

"Eric Hobsbawm is one of the few genuinely great historians of our century."-- "The New Republic"
"Hobsbawm's brilliant and engaging polemic succeeds both in highlighting what was revolutionary about the French Revolution and showing how people have argued angrily about it ever since."--Peter McPhee "author of Liberty or Death: The French Revolution"
"It is good to rub the revisionist sand from one's eyes and read: 'The absurdity of the assumption that the French Revolution is simply a sort of stumble on the long, slow march of eternal France, is patent.' Eric Hobsbawm is right, of course."--Gwynne Lewis "author of The French Revolution and Life in Revolutionary France"
"Much of his argument is addressed to historians of the Left, but his general conclusions will interest all historians of the modern world."--Nancy C. Cridland "author of Books in American History: A Basic List for High Schools"
"Nobody is better qualified to explore such a theme, for the range and penetration of Hobsbawm's writings on modern European history have long been the envy and admiration of other scholars."--William Doyle "author of The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction"
"This is a vigorous, refreshing, and learned brief on behalf of a venerable historiographical tradition. It reminds us of the obvious but often overlooked truth: that there are no definitive interpretations, certainly not of an event so primal and transcendent as the French Revolution."--David P. Jordan "author of The Revolutionary Career of Maximilien Robespierre"