cover image Age of Empire: 1875-1914

Age of Empire: 1875-1914

Eric J. Hobsbawm. Vintage Books USA, $18 (448pp) ISBN 978-0-679-72175-8

In this sequel to The Age of Capital , the author ``probes the contradictions of a largely tranquil age that stood on the brink of global slaughter. Hobsbawm's delvings possess a breadth and depth that few historians have equaled, and this wide-ranging chronicle is essential to our understanding of a modern world divided into hostile camps,'' praised PW. (Apr.)