Interesting Times? (Paperback)

From the publicity surrounding the publication of Eric Hobsbawm's memoirs to the posthumous expose of Christopher Hill, the links between communism and the universities in the 1930s that are still present today are explored in this book. In addition to an interview with Hobsbawm by David Howell, features include a summary of the reviews of his autobiography by John Callaghan and the publication for the first time of a different type of autobiographical document--the party biography that Hobsbawm compiled for the British communist party. Other Marxist historians of the same generation are featured including Dorothy Thompson, Victor Kiernan, and Christopher Hill. As well as the usual reviews section, focusing especially on political commitments made in the age of extremes, a discussion by David Renton of Paul Lafargue's classic text, "The Right To Be Lazy, is included.