Eric J. Hobsbawm is a British historian widely regarded as one of the most influential and wide-ranging historians of the 20th century. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, to Jewish parents and raised in Vienna and Berlin before settling in England, he rose to international acclaim with his trilogy on the modern age, The Age of Revolution, The Age of Capital, and The Age of Empire, followed by The Age of Extremes, works that continue to be studied as sweeping accounts of the rise of industrial capitalism, nationalism, and empire. A committed Marxist throughout his life, he witnessed and participated in many of the century's defining political currents, from resistance to Hitler in the Weimar Republic to a stint as an interpreter for Che Guevara during the Cuban Revolution. A longtime professor at Birkbeck, University of London, he became known for his edited volume introducing the influential concept of "invented traditions," alongside decades of essays and journalism that shaped historical and political discourse across the English-speaking world. Known for his crystal-clear prose and unmatched range, tackling subjects from labor history to jazz with equal fluency, Hobsbawm's work continues to shape modern historical scholarship and inspire readers across the world.