I may not be an expert as I'm only 15 years old but here goes what I think about this book. It's Hobsbawm's view of History and it's strongly influenced by the remains of Hobsbawm's commitment to the communism I think this may have twisted his vision. This is very bad because so many people read the book and sometimes when you don't have enough knowledge you are influenced by the author's thoughts and his vision becomes your vision.