Nations and Nationalism Since 1780, Second Edition: Programme, Myth, Reality (Canto Classics)

Hobsbawn is the master in the interpretation of modern history. Here he shows how nations are artifacts of crooked politicians (my wording, not his). A book full of lessons in our troubled times.

Hobsbawm explores the intricate development of nationalism in Europe and the wider a world a fantastic work and a great accompany to his age of revolution work.

Who am I to review a EJ Hobsbawm! Not going to - but it is bang up to date and there are plenty of ocassions from beginning to end when you think to yourself "Ha - yes I can see that unfolding now!".

As seen in captioned. Thank you x

useful book

It is a book. The book I ordered. It isn't damaged. That is all.

excellent excellent excellent; what else could it be?

What to say about this book ? Well first Hobsbawn is a very well studied individual. Second as he claims himself if you've absorbed a national identity into your identity of self i.e. I'm a Frenchman,I'm an American,or I'm Japanese,Irish,Chinese,Indian,etc this book is not for you. This is an excellent piece of literature based in as objective as a view as your gonna get on the matter of national programming. I do agree with many of his predictions especially those pertaining to the minorities of the post colonized world. This book helps one understand not just the past but the future as well,his criticism of far right politics and the joke that it is,the aim of national and ethnic purity is ludicrously babaric. Whether it forms in European majority or minority people of color with separatism. Both indulging in xenophobic and racists patterns of senseless rhetoric. What 18th and 19th century barbarism sought to prevent the world of technology has brought about anyway. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the psychological ailments of humanity that just seem to be keeping us from beginning that Star Trek utopian society. We're getting there just there's a few sticky things lingering around from 18th and 19th century that simply can not and will not survive in 21st century.

His analysis of events is without equal. Writing is clear and enjoyable to read. Nations is a must for those who want a better understanding of our world.

According to the book "Nations and Nationalism since 1780" by Professor Hobsbawm, the national feelings of people will fade and, eventually, disappear. Nation-states, the 18th-19th century creation of European cultural elites, will cease to exist. The erudite knowledge and masterful manipulation of historical facts brought in support of the main thesis makes it difficult to defend any opposing viewpoints. I believe that the nationalities and national feelings, important components of human identity and the driving force of many conflicts, are here to stay. The growth of clans into tribes and their subsequent merger into nations is not an invention of European cultural elites. It is a phenomena as old as written history. The Bible has many pages listing tribes begetting one another. The myths, legends and sagas of Greeks, Slavs and Norsemen are no different. The creators of native alphabets, founders of native schools or national newspapers, collectors of national folklore - in short, the cultural elites ¬- they all brought coherency to the national feelings of people they worked among, but they did not create nations. The formation and birth of a nation is a natural process. We can think of it as akin to the appearance of new species in the natural world. The perpetual growth and reshuffling of humankind brings about the births of new and disappearance of worn-out nations. The multitude of competitive nations is needed to secure the existence of humanity in the never-ending process of creation. Humankind is advanced through ceaseless competition between different nations. Professor Hobsbawm believes otherwise. He belongs to a vanishing tribe of Marxists Internationalists. True to Marxist ideology, whose goal is to create a classless and nation-less society, he believes in the eventual disappearance of nations. By Professor Hobsbawm own account (see his biography, Interesting times), the Communist movement was the only "family" he ever truly felt at home with. Marxist ideals shaped the worldview of Professor's Hobsbawm and he remains captive to them. His book is the product of Marxist thinking. As if by mischief, the book front cover bears a reproduction of Breughel's "The Tower of Babel", which contradicts the "nation-less future" thesis of the book. The arrogant builders of the biblical Tower of Babel had to abandon the project punished by God, who, to thwart their plans, confused them by making them speak different languages. The Marxist vision of a class-less future without nations was abandoned too. The Marxist "tower" came crushing down. The front cover impishly symbolizes the futility and arrogance of the Marxist project. It is a shame so much knowledge and wit of Professor Hobsbawm was spent propagating the ideas of misguided Marxist vision. Be as it may, the sheer amount of facts and stories on nation-building in 19th and 20th centuries makes the book "Nations and Nationalism since 1780" compelling reading for history buffs.

For me, Hobsbawm is the best historian of the 20th Century. His global view and hard-edged analysis is powerful and his prose had that grand Churchillian cadence. One may disagree with parts of what he says, but it is rewarding nonetheless.

Not that much can be done about this, but be aware that the pages are rather "glossy" making pencil annotations difficult.