Eric Hobsbawm and the Fatal Appeal of Revolution – Spectator Blogs

Tony Judt’s verdict on Eric Hobsbawm seems fair: “If he had not been a lifelong Communist he would be remembered simply as one of the great historians of the 20th century.” That if is a hefty qualification, of course, for some of the reasons Nick Cohen makes admirably clear. Any appraisal of Hobsbawm’s life and work that fails to account for his unrepentant communism is a dishonest enterprise. But so too is any verdict obsessed with Hobsbawm’s communism to the exclusion of all else. (See, for example, Michael Burleigh’s piece in the Telegraph.)

It seems obvious to me that it is possible – unusual perhaps but certainly possible – to be both a great historian and hopelessly, even wickedly, wrong on one of the greatest questions of the twentieth century. History is as messy and contradictory as people. “Yes, but…” is a vital element to the business of history and “Yes, but…” should be something Hobsbawm’s defenders and prosecutors should each bear in mind.