The New Century: In Conversation with Antonio Polito

Description

This volume, the sequel to "The Age of Extremes", continues Hobsbawm's analysis of the 20th century, asking questions about our inheritance from the century of conflict and its meanings for the years to come. Looking back over the 1990s to learn something of the new era, Hobsbawm finds the distinction between internal and international conflicts and between state of war and state of peace disappearing. He goes on to analyze the crisis of the multi-ethic state and shows the distortions of history involved in the creation of its myths. He expresses his anxiety over the system of international relations between states that have so far ruled by colonialism and nuclear terror. Hobsbawm then assesses the impact that a popular global culture has had on every aspect of life, from happiness and social hierarchy to nutrition and the environment. The book is a concise summary of the thinking of this pre-eminent historian.

Eric Hobsbawm was born in Alexandria in 1917 and educated in Vienna, Berlin, London, and Cambridge. A fellow of the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he taught until retirement at Birkbeck College, University of London, and since then at the New School for Social Research in New York.

'Teeming with ideas.' SUNDAY TRIBUNE 'The man is lucid to the point of visionary.' SUNDAY HERALD 'This excellent little book sees Hobsbawm conversing with his co-author about the state of the world today, and what historians might consider important 50 or 100 years hence. Hobsbawm's characteristic erudition and charm underwrite his bracingly provocative viewpoints.' GUARDIAN