Book
The Age of Empire
First published 1987
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.
Christopher Clark
1 book
Lawrence James
Peter Ackroyd
1 book