The Age of Empire

by Eric Hobsbawm Book 3 in the The Age of… series.

First published 1987

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The Age of Empire examines the decades from 1875 to 1914, when industrial capitalism, global trade and European imperial expansion reached their greatest extent. Hobsbawm follows the growth of mass production, finance, urban society and overseas empires while established elites adapted to nationalism, electoral politics and organised labour.

The book also considers the culture and contradictions of the belle époque: scientific confidence, racial ideology, socialist movements, women’s emancipation and rivalry among the great powers. Beneath the period’s prosperity, Hobsbawm identifies tensions between classes, nations and empires that culminated in the outbreak of the First World War.

Historical Periods

Victorian Era1837–1901 CE Edwardian Era1901–1914 CE Imperial Russia1721–1917 CE European Imperialism in the Islamic Mediterraneanc. 1750–1918 CE Gilded Age Americac. 1870–1900 CE

Genres

Court & Political Fiction

Historical people

Victoria1819–1901 Wilhelm II1859–1941 Theodore Roosevelt1858–1919 Franz Joseph I of Austria1830–1916 Otto von Bismarck1815–1898 Nicholas II of Russia1868–1918