|
|
Article: "If men were angels...": reflections on the world of Eric Hobsbawm.
- Article from:
- The National Interest
- Article date:
- June 22, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 The National Interest, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
As the twentieth century draws to its end, we can expect a parade of books that win purport to tell us its meaning. The last fin de siecle was rich in artistic innovation; this one is more likely to be rich in historical reflection.
But in a certain sense the twentieth century has already ended. It did so half a decade ago. Historians for quite some time have seen the nineteenth century as really lasting from 1789 (the beginning of the French Revolution) to 1914 (the beginning of the First World War), and they have accordingly termed it "the long nineteenth century." So too, historians have recently begun to see the twentieth century as lasting from 1914 to ...