Eric Hobsbawm's Interesting Times is a highly readable and
interesting autobiography, providing a wealth of information about
the professional and (to a lesser extent) personal life of its
author, as well as the times in which he lived. There is no shortage
of revelations, intended and unintended.
Born in 1917, Hobsbawm has been a man of the Left throughout his long
life. He has enjoyed an extraordinary global reputation in the
academic world, foremost among left-leaning intellectuals and
liberals. He has been showered with honors as a champion honorary
doctorate recipient, conference invitee and subsidized world
traveler. He has also been a regular commentator in the mass media of
several countries. (A photograph in this volume shows him on Dutch
television in the apparently congenial company of Markus Wolf, former
head of the East German intelligence service. He appears to share
with Mr. Wolf a distaste for expressing regrets about his
longstanding political commitments and convictions.)
Like many leftist Western intellectuals, Hobsbawm managed to be at
once an egalitarian and an elitist. On the one hand, he believes that
his work has considerable historical importance and sees himself
belonging to an international fraternity of enlightened
intellectuals. On the other he is a champion and brother of the
downtrodden. He writes: "The enormous advantage of communism,
especially when reinforced by friendship, that one could simply not
treat a comrade other than an equal."
