Eric Hobsbawm: The Consolations of History

In this documentary, Anthony Wilks traces the connections between the events of Eric Hobsbawm’s life and the history he told, from his teenage years in Germany and his communist membership, to the jazz clubs of 1950s Soho and the makings of New Labour, taking in Italian bandits, Peruvian peasant movements and the development of nationalism in the modern world, with help from the assiduous observations of MI5. The film features contributions from Frances Stonor Saunders, Richard J. Evans, John Foot, Stefan Collini, Marlene Hobsbawm and Donald Sassoon, as well as Hobsbawm himself in extensive archive footage.
Subscribe to the LRB from just £1 per issue: mylrb.co.uk/adw21W
Read more in the LRB:
Hobsbawm on Weimar Germany: lrb.me/hobsbawmweimaryt
Hobsbawm on his days as a jazz critic: lrb.me/hobsbawmjazzyt
Hobsbawm on Hungary in 1956: lrb.me/hobsbawmhungaryt
Frances Stonor Saunders on Hobsbawm's MI5 files: lrb.me/hobsbawmmi5filesyt
Perry Anderson on 'The Age of' series: lrb.me/andersonhobsbawmyt
Audio in the film courtesy of the Hay Festival. Find more here: www.hayfestival.com/hayplayer/
Turkish subtitles kindly provided by Dr. Ugur Pece of Lehigh University.
ABOUT THE LRB
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[@Tom_Nicholas]

This was fantastic. Thank you for making it available to watch for free.

[@nelsonphillips]

thanks for tweeting it.

[@peter-mbuchimethu5698]

Thank for the wonderful banquet of precious memories of the century

[@lsobrien]

Your channel is great btw.

[@_aworldthatspoke950]

I don’t know

[@vegetableman4619]

Awesome watch, very interesting

[@HarveyJKaye-lb6do]

I knew Eric... He had perspective... He asked great questions... He knew vast things... and this was well worth watching. My book on The British Marxist Historians (1984, 1995) is being issued anew this coming fall 2021 with his 1995 Foreword included.

[@AminTheMystic]

He was a sub-standard historian overegged by left-wing intellectuals. His scholarship is shockingly bad. In short he was a pathetic grifter who turned up at every corporate event and public school lunch laid on for him.

[@IsmailofeRegime]

​@@AminTheMystic I don't think the accusation of "grifter" makes sense, given how so much criticism of him by anti-communists portrays him as a deluded Marxist ideologue. If he was so well-known as a historian that even capitalists were willing to pay to hear him speak, what of it? How is that contrary to the writings of Marx and Engels?

[@AminTheMystic]

@@IsmailofeRegime Grifter is just the right word. He preached but clearly didnt practice. He was well known, but his work is shoddy. Because the establishment him bought him out. You'd think a Marxist would go as far as possible to reject overtures by capitalists.

[@IsmailofeRegime]

@@AminTheMystic I don't think one can demonstrate "the establishment bought him out" simply because he gave paid speeches though. Engels was the son of a capitalist and managed the family's textile business, becoming fairly wealthy from that and from investments in other companies. He also tried to increase sales of Capital Vol. 1 by penning anonymous reviews in bourgeois journals trying to convince German capitalists that Marx provided a detailed overview of English industry. Yet no one would claim Engels was a "grifter." Saying Hobsbawm "clearly didn't practice" makes little sense either. He was actively involved in the CPGB, at least during the 1930s-50s, and never left the party until it ceased to exist. What was he supposed to do to be a "real Marxist" in your eyes?

[@AminTheMystic]

@@IsmailofeRegime If he is not a sellout then what is he? his type turn out at posh private school by the bucket load and never at public schools. If Engles was a sellout he was a sellout. His words should be ignored. Hypocrites the pair of them. Ah! he was paid party memeber. So what? And in personal life he was a practising capitalist. I think my view is far more accurate.

[@datsunyellow2570]

A remarkable portrait of the man. Calm, balanced, intriguing. Thank you.

[@amoreazione3563]

a marxist. very intriguing. The current disaster of a world we live in is also due to people like him and their subversive ideas.

[@IsmailofeRegime]

@@amoreazione3563 The "current disaster of a world we live in" is attributable to capitalism's own inherent contradictions. Blaming "subversive ideas" is fruitless; those ideas are themselves the consequences of capitalist development. It's akin to feudal reactionaries whining that their supposedly harmonious and "natural" societies were being undermined by liberals, Freemasons, Jews, and other "subversives."

[@mothersoul1]

He was an amazing scholar, a walking encyclopedia and the sweetest man ever.

[@caiusnero1]

@@Cinestesia1 se não fosses tão burro quererias ser uma besta quadrada pois parece que o facto de transportares um penico em cima dos ombros não te permite mais do que isso.

[@mothersoul1]

Sorry guys, say what you want, you didn’t know him. I did, he was my dear friend. An amazing man who despite have luminosity and could walk still pumped out three books while in his 90’s.

[@Beach_comber]

@@Cinestesia1 This is a great quote, but posting it once is enough.

[@ralang999]

Thank you for making this available for free viewing

[@claudiomatera7211]

What a treat. Pity that the vulgarity of daily political discourses has been used to negatively frame his work. His contribution in understanding where we come from and who we are should be universally celebrated. Thanks for uploading this.

[@claudiomatera7211]

Dude you can’t lie about historical facts! Where did you go to school ?

[@londonreviewofbooks]

A Turkish translation of the subtitles has kindly been provided by Dr. Ugur Pece and you should also find very rough, automated Spanish and Portuguese translations, but other automated translations might stop halfway because of a glitch in youtube. Sorry about that!

[@landcruiserfan4206]

xx

[@maxheadrom3088]

I'll check the Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. May I send you recommendations for changes? Thanks!

[@londonreviewofbooks]

@@maxheadrom3088 That would be very kind - thank you!

[@AltaiIQ]

حقيقة هذا الرجل خلاني احب التاريخ و الاهم احترام التاريخ و قيمة التوثيق و كذلك الموضوعيه بالنظر للاحداث

[@anthonyolivera9484]

The first time I readed Hobsbawn was three years ago in the College, at the history class. Im studying politic science and the perspective that brings the historian about the time and live gave me a love to the history. Now Im reading Bloch and Judt. Great documentary film. And I thank you from Mexico 🇲🇽

[@shobharaghuram2211]

Thank you for this excellent reconstruction of the life and work of Prof.Eric Hobsbwam. I remember attending his seminar at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris in the early 80's. His simplicity, his remarkable ability to read history with a wide angle lens which was sharp and dialectical at the same time is deeply missed today. He was a historian who read history with a sharp devotion to facts as well making possible a political rendering of history with compassion for the peasantry and the underclass.

[@seppecena]

A truly fantastic documentary: it outlines respectfully the intellectual and social biography of one of the most brillant historians of the twentieth century. His ability to intertwine the political, economic, social and cultural dimensions of human life and society are not matched by many others. He was consequent and open about his political viewpoints and he did never hide him self behind a false stance of a so called "impartiality" or "a non bias" that supposedly a great number of historians take.

[@robkeeleycomposer]

@@Cinestesia1 Thank goodness someone is prepared to say this: the fawning on here is nauseating.

[@henriquecardoso45]

Phenomenal Film. Thanks for making it public!

[@josiasacostagonzalez2410]

Thank you so much for releasing this documentary. Regards from argentina!

[@stefanfreitas4465]

Great documentary about this great historian. Congratulations to the staff that made it possible.

[@huseyinoral3198]

gxvc

[@janewarnerdukuray1624]

This is a fascinating and beautifully achieved biography of Eric Hobsbawm.

[@hazelwray4184]

beautifully accomplished; beautifully realised.

[@rafinha_87]

Great work! It should definitely be subtitled in Portuguese, bc Hobsbawm's books are very popular in Brasil. In fact, he was an editorial phenomenon among Brazilian public.

[@RobertCFried]

Since we have a global audience, It is very easy to get subtitles in "ANY LANGUAGE" if you first "GO TO SETTINGS" (to the right of CC on most computers,) then click on "SUBTITLES/CC," then check "ENGLISH (UNITED STATES)," then check "AUTO-TRANSLATE," then, from the drop-down menu, "PICK THE LANGUAGE" that you want then click on it to put a "CHECK-MARK" in (next to your language,) then turn the "CC" setting off and on again, which will reset the subtitles into your language. That's all there is to it!

[@rafinha_87]

@@RobertCFried Hello Mr Fried, sorry for not having noticed it before. Thank you for your professorial ilumination to this poor third-world Hobsbawm fan.

[@labraham1025]

Are you from Brazil? How is that?Why EH became so popular there? That should be an interesting story

[@RobertCFried]

@@labraham1025 I'm not from Brazil, but I read somewhere that Hobsbawm sold over a million books in Brazil. I do not know the reason for it though.

[@dpauni]

@@labraham1025 I´m a Secondary school head where history teachers use EH as a source and reading material for international exams

[@noricd]

A rare documentary, artfully constructed by the digital producer for the London Review of Books Andrew Wilks, screamingly relevant themes, engagingly paced, accompanied by music with a purpose. At the center is a life of a historian, a multilinguist with big ideas and a torch fuelled by personal heritage and experience, pointed at phenomena, movements that propel change since modern history began.

[@vinm300]

Well said.

[@janeos01]

So very glad I found this. I have a number Eric's books which I delve into on occasions. To me he is was a fascinating man and historian. Interesting documentary. Thank you.

[@vidcreatorlondon]

One of the best documentaries ever.

[@emmawilcock1304]

What a life. I have read his books and learned to "see" history in the way in which he presented it. It helps that his writing is clear yet profound, and built upon by a superb scholarly mind keen to pass on what he had learned. I came to like Eric Hobsbawm through his writing and his books and i'm sure if i met him i would have liked him as a person. Thanks for posting this documentary, for those who know only a small amount about EH its a perfect personal and professional encapsulated biography.

[@ruatarengsicolneyrengsi8924]

Thanks to the maker of this documentary and to those who brought it out for viewing. It brings one close to the person and the era he lived in.

[@GaviotPerez]

maravilloso documental, con los tiempos necesarios y justos para este enorme historiador. Muchas gracias por los subtítulos en castellano. Gracias.

[@eleanorwest1526]

Absolutely brilliant analysis. So lucid and enlightening.

[@Ukedc259]

Absolutely stellar documentary. So interesting.

[@innervisionscm]

Wow, this was so inspiring! Thank you for making this

[@divaden47]

Fascinating. Thank you for posting. :)

[@gopalyn]

Very profound and absolutely brilliant. Thank you so much for this documentary!

[@busterbiloxi3833]

Dishonest hagiography.

[@OShaughnessyC]

Fascinating documentary. Thank you, LRB!

[@MsDaddou77]

Inspiring historian. Hobsbawm's work was instrumental in my MA in British Cultural Studies

[@hazelwray4184]

Raymond Williams' 'Culture and Society' is a favourite for me.

[@MsDaddou77]

@@hazelwray4184 : Indeed,I read the book while doing my research too

[@Unbrutal_Rawr]

This is a truly masterful documentary and I've thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I can't think of a better introduction to a life such as this one. Thanks so much for making it available to me.

[@tsunchoo]

Thanks for the documentary. Fascinating.

[@curtbarnes4294]

Thanks for posting this! Where else could a Yank see one of his favorite authors in the flesh? American TV? Not, as you say, bloody likely.

[@johnglenn30csardas]

Fantastic piece of work. Best thing I’ve seen in KZbin in recent memory. Thank you

[@baristhealienated]

This is great. Thank you very much. Though I wish there was a little bit more about his personal life, it is really well-made.

[@stevebrindle1724]

fantastic and precious film footage of Lenin addressing a street meeting!

[@rodriguezdiazlaura]

I met him when Past&Present asked me to contribute a couple of articles on good riots in XVIIIth century Spain, part of my research for my dissertation at Oxford. He helped me so much, as board member of the prestigious periodical. I always admired his historical work and him as a man with so many interests. Witty, curious and funny. Thank you

[@rodriguezdiazlaura]

Food riots, sorry.

[@Cyallaire]

@@rodriguezdiazlaura Thanks for making the correction. I was wondering how a person differentiates the good riots from the not so good riots. :) That's pretty impressive you were able to get the dissertation help from Eric Hobsbawm. By the way, the three dots you may see on the right margin of your comments is a link that will show you you have the option to edit your comments if you push on it.

[@rodriguezdiazlaura]

@@Cyallaire thanks

[@nicolascalderoli711]

Un excelente trabajo. Gracias por publicarlo. Saludos...

[@ximenacontrera171]

Great doc, thank you!

[@dasglasperlenspiel10]

I'm glad to find this documentary here

[@jancurtis8432]

Wonderful. Thank you for sharing.

[@metaphysicsandhoops6448]

Much thanks from Brooklyn. Beautiful mind

[@Vmvmvmvmvn]

This was awesome, thanks from Brazil.

[@jamesstuart9528]

Thank for this and for transporting me back to a happier time when History occupied the place it deserves in school curricula and I dreamed of sharing my love of the subject with my charges.

[@andoramanantsoa4609]

I wouldn't call the first half of the 20th century a "happier time" though !

[@Thiswasnotmade]

Great stuff! Learnt a lot!

[@hannshartz4815]

Great Documentary!

[@maxheadrom3088]

The parts about Latin America are very interesting. I know Hobsbawn from High School in Brazil where his texts are the basis for a lot of teaching books - even the ones used by the private school I went to.

[@Imran-jt1um]

Eric a historian&educationist,his articles and insights on historical events are indeed the door to an impact towards intellectual progress,against the exploitative capitalist forces. #respectfromIndia🇮🇳

[@masdigha1]

Great documentary you old chaps! Even this work does not explain to me about how he could stay with Stalinists in the same Party! But, he has left such a great intellectual footprint with his work that I don’t care! I suspect he was yet another Continental Jewish giant, in the mold of Erik Fromm and not really an Englishman! That’s the only thing this bio misses about him.

[@kellymaguire7912]

amazing and compelling documentary. thank you.

[@Aubury]

A fine biographical portrait of a historian, of great merit.

[@tjena5772]

A very well made documentary of a great public intellectual whom I owe enormous debt for the enlightenment he brought in me through his remarkable understanding and articulation of more than two hundred years of history of which I have lived nearly the last quarter. Respect and gratitude.

[@8nansky528]

I ADORE READING

[@lw3705]

Great work. Subscribed.

[@learneaMea]

beautiful! thank you!

[@cncshrops]

Splendid. Well paced and painfully relevant as scholarship itself comes under threat from a nationalist right playing from same book as their forebears.

[@rociomoreno8488]

Such an interesting documentary. It has made me reflect, especially in regard to my personal ideology and beliefs.

[@luizcarlosdecastrovasconce2411]

A fantastic portrait of Hobsbawn!

[@RobertCFried]

Since we have a global audience, It is very easy to get subtitles in "ANY LANGUAGE" if you first "GO TO SETTINGS" (to the right of CC on most computers,) then click on "SUBTITLES/CC," then check "ENGLISH (UNITED STATES)," then check "AUTO-TRANSLATE," then, from the drop-down menu, "PICK THE LANGUAGE" that you want then click on it to put a "CHECK-MARK" in (next to your language,) then turn the "CC" setting off and on again, which will reset the subtitles into your language. That's all there is to it!

[@hazelwray4184]

Subtitles/Captions

[@ZorbaPress]

Liked, Subscribed, and Shared. ... Thank you very much.

[@DaboooogA]

Excellent documentary, well researched with fantastic talking heads. Would also recommend *The Stuart Hall Project (2013)* by John Akomfrah, which is similarly approached.

[@robbiespence6504]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3KQoJpvlJKMqNE

[@susanmazzella865]

I know this ignorant American learned History never heard or known before. Really great documentary. Beautifully filmed and on a very special man. Thanks

[@tsunchoo]

His books are great, very readable - not stodgy at all. I've only read Age of Empires but great one to have around - find myself always re-reading it

[@hazelwray4184]

You know an ignorant American who learnt about history, and he's never been heard about, or known before?

[@NewLeftEViews]

Hell yes!

[@AnnArborVerite]

Outstanding

[@ilnigromante666]

I've had the great honor of watching Hobsbawn giving a lecture at Parati's international literary fair in 2004.

[@cytata5359]

Que beleza João! Inveja aqui kkk

[@ilnigromante666]

@@cytata5359 Valeu.

[@labraham1025]

Que privilegio, un saludo desde MX

[@beritbranch2436]

thankyou Will and Ariel

[@ShaneBordoli]

thank you LRB

[@mirandac8712]

Completely enthralling piece

[@Zinzillya]

Большое спасибо за интересный фильм о таком прекрасном Человеке. Правда о людях положивших свои жизни за право всех людей быть лучше и лучше достойна уважения.

[@adamrobson5311]

This looks lovely!

[@heshammohamed8421]

Splendid!

[@lillymayer8090]

Great work!

[@mariokruger8469]

A must for everyone interested in world politics

[@matthewpawelski767]

This documentary was magnificent! Stellar, top class! Much like the historian it is about. Well done everyone involved!

[@mehdi131]

I have always been keen on reading Real books (Hard Copy) rather than electronic ones. I always wish I could write several books in several topics. But the life pace is much faster than I could aford to do so. This film was very inspiring as I get familia4 with this great Personage. Thanks

[@HundreadD]

Really great documentary if only for the fantastic footage used historical and modern

[@mauriciocesar6230]

Awesome documentary, I’m currently studying EH in one of my disciplines in college in Brazil.

[@gabwhi]

Beautiful film

[@viktorcar3354]

he also accurately foresaw the things to come , that we witness nowadays. the closing chapters of the Age of Extremes clearly depict the processes in motion now.

[@richardadkins7334]

Thank you.

[@ashleyKennedy5]

Hobsbawm is excellent on Nations and Nationalism and the lies Historians tell you to construct your past.

[@atahacmale3959]

Thank you for the Turkish subtitle!

[@gregory-of-tours]

Good doc

[@palacky1040]

As a tribute to Hobsbawm 's plurilinguism I will write this comment in french (my native language ). J'ai beaucoup aimé ce documentaire. Comme beaucoup de Français j'apprécie les livres et travaux d'Eric Hobsbawm depuis longtemps. Ce qui était assez original pour un historien anglais dans les années 1950-1960, il a très vite été intéressé par les méthodes et les thématiques initiées par certains historiens français avant que cela ne deviennent à la mode dans les années 1960 et 1970. Il a participé au séminaire de Braudel au collège de France dans les années 1950 je pense. Et il pouvait lire les livres de Febvre, Braudel, Goubert, Ladurie avant qu'ils ne soient traduits en anglais et le documentaire explique bien (mais trop rapidement à mon goût) ces influences réciproques. If you can understand french you might be interested to listen to this 2 hours long interview which was broadcast on France Culture in 2003 (by the way his french is as good as his english or german !). Here it is with a dot missing - cuttly/hobsbawm-in-french-2003

[@khaldunia]

Great historian!

[@vitornardez]

que documentário FOFO lacrimejei aqui

[@emmcee662]

Magnificent

[@kaleemullahleghari3016]

A phenomenal documentry about the growth and evolution of a revolutionary..

[@hazelwray4184]

He wasn't exactly a Revolutionary.

[@josedavidramirezroldan2753]

Una genialidad total

[@reinaldorenzo3957]

Wonderful doc. Humans' never-ending search to the future! A matter of looking forward to the past...

[@hazelwray4184]

A universal human trait; endeavour? Or ostensibly, a mindset that's been spread across continents due to Western European expansionism, the age of enlightenment and the industrial revolution.

[@pradippkd]

brillliant

[@jameswhitfield1375]

What an interesting man he was, and Sophisticated Lady by Duke Ellington to round it off. Wonderful.

[@strutherhill]

Not sure when the interview for a Spanish channel was recorded, but his forecast that untrammelled wild-west globalisation would lead to the rise of post-fascism -- I would name Trump, Putin, Johnson, Bolsonaro, Urban, Erdogan -- was spot on.

[@Ukedc259]

1:10:53 - 1:13:00 - predicts NOW perfectly

[@nuqwestr]

By far one of the best political documentaries on an individual ever made. It could be the basis for a college course, but alas, the children of "The Enlightenment", like Hobsbawm, have been kicked to the curb by Critical Theory and the Relativists. Would have loved to seen a debate between Hobsbawm and Herbert Marcuse; anyone know of one?

[@Cjbcampbell]

To paraphrase the blurb on my old copy of Aldous Huxley's _Island_ ('better and truer than _Brave New World_'): "better and truer than Adam Curtis". :)

[@FQBeast]

True. The social role of a historian is a deeply important one, where the talents and attributes of the individual historian lends itself to either illuminating or obfuscating receptive minds. Curtis, for all his charms, falls more into the latter category.

[@johnyohalem6507]

One of my favorite historians of the modern world! Marxism hardly ever gets in the way of his clear outlook, and his prose is always a delight. This has been a splendid look at the life.

[@SpeakLove369]

I look forward to coming back here #ADHD #L0V3

[@PifflePrattle]

1:10:52 onwards. I was wondering when he made this interview. Spoken today it would come in the category of No Shirt Sherlock. Or something like that. (edit) Especially this bit 1:12:03

[@TheSpiritOfTheTimes]

Where is the IMDb entry?

[@duuuad2350]

‘How I Won WW2’ by Eric Hobsbawm