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Reposted by Emile Chabal

Sometimes one just feels inadequate. This snippet from @emile-chabal.bsky.social's fascinating intellectual biography of Eric Hobsbawm describes his reading and essay criticism of Sorel, in I believe a third language (French). He was around 19 years old and about to go to university.

Extract from Chabal's book The Age of Hobsbawm, describing his critical views of Sorel's interpretation of the French Revolution, having "just read" Sainte-Just's despatches to the Committee of Public Safety

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 17h

Crisis, what crisis? www.the-tls.com/regular-feat...

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Thanks Lucy! I will never tire of the wonderfulness of my students, past and present. And it's not just in the classroom: many students of mine have appeared in book acknowledgements, too; they shape our research in myriad ways. A reminder that *we* are the university, not the bean-counters!

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I am not given to hyperbole when it comes to university industrial relations, but this feels like an existential event. The heart of the university is being torn out, with long-lasting consequences. These strikes are a last-ditch attempt to stop that. Will anyone listen?

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Had fun talking about Hobsbawm, the history of French intellectual life, and a whole host of other things in the latest episode of BBC Free Thinking on Radio 4 with Matthew Sweet and guests... www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 4 - Free Thinking, Intellectuals

Matthew Sweet discusses the role of intellectuals in public life.

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The Hobsbawm roadshow continues in October in St Andrews, London and Edinburgh! Links below. * 1 October, 19:30, Topping's St Andrews * 12 October, 17:30, Institute of Historical Research, London * 13 October, 19:00, @housmansbookshop.bsky.social, London * 30 October at 19:00, Topping's Edinburgh

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

What an adventure! 20,000 kms, 5 flights, 4 train journeys, 8 book talks, and SO many interested, patient and lovely people at my events over the past 2ish weeks. I return home with fabulous new ideas and amazingly thoughtful criticisms. Thanks to everyone for showing me the best of our profession 🥰

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The programme I run - the MSc in Contemporary History - will be axed, amongst so many others. We've also been told our undergrad courses will need to have a minimum of 20 students over a 3 year period. The bonfire of the universities has truly come for Edinburgh.

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

My book in the wild - and in serious company! - @bookculture.com on 112th St, NYC. (And they now have 4 signed copies...)

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Major life goal unlocked as Adam Tooze devotes *half* of one of his @onesandtooze.bsky.social podcasts to Hobsbawm and my book! Plus it's a really interesting and smart analysis. Do I just retire now..? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...

podcasts.apple.com

Germany’s AFD

Podcast Episode · Ones and Tooze · September 11 · 1h 1m

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

NYC-bound for the next stop on what I'm now calling my "Ages Tour". I've had such wonderful feedback, comments, thoughts, and reactions so far. And today I'll return to Columbia, where I gave my very first paper on Hobsbawm in 2016...

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

So happy that this piece is out! It gradually turned into something like an intellectual history of the subfield of French immigration history, so it's a perfect introduction or primer for the uninitiated - and perhaps a little thought-provoking for those who know the field.

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The UK and European publication day is today! Rush to your favourite online or offline bookshop to find out why today's Hobsbawm Discourse (was he a good historian?, how could he be a communist?) is a debate that's played out many times before... www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The peak of American civilization is the hotel breakfast waffle maker.

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Another "try before you buy" opportunity, with the publication online of this excerpt of my book on Hobsbawm and total history writing by @myhnn.bsky.social. www.hnn.us/article/the-...

hnn.us

The Art of Writing History

How Eric Hobsbawm brought revolution to a broad audience.

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Want to try before you buy..? Listen to this comprehensive and wide-ranging @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social podcast, in which I outline some of the key arguments and ideas in the book, as well as the process of writing it. newbooksnetwork.com/the-age-of-h...

newbooksnetwork.com

Emile Chabal, "The Age of Hobsbawm: The Life of a Revolutionary Historian" (Harvard UP, 2026) - New Books Network

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Really chuffed to have a double-page spread devoted to a review of my book in La Stampa. Italy, here I come!

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

The ultimate palette cleanser: spending almost three hours listening to a live performance of all of Bach's cello suites by Alisa Weilerstein at the Edinburgh Festival.

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

This essay still deservedly provoking thoughts on and in conversation with my book! Of course, as I point out, those metanarratives could only exist in a very specific intellectual ecosystem, governed by a kind of Marxist + European power and authority that has long since waned.

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Publication day! (For the US edition, at least - UK edition coming in a couple of weeks...) Thank you to everyone who helped along the way 😊 www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

A smart and thoughtful review! Thank you.

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Reposted by Emile Chabal

Harvard University Press @harvardpress.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

The first truly global biography of a revolutionary thinker. How well do you know Eric Hobsbawm? Discover our conversation with biographer and historian Emile Chabal: bit.ly/3RZrUjK Coming August 18.

An image of the cover of Emile Chabal's "The Age of Hobsbawm," a black-and-white image of a spectacled Eric Hobsbawm smiling and looking off into the distance on the cover. Dark green background.

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

It's here! After so many years! I wasn't entirely sure this book would really happen, until I opened the box. Now, perhaps, it's time to let go of it and see what others think..? Thanks to @harvardpress.bsky.social and everyone else who followed me in this journey.

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Reposted by Emile Chabal

Contemporary European History @conteurohistory.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

📣 CEH's third digest is out now, featuring journal news, blog updates, prizewinners, and more! And our editors have again chosen an article from the last six months on which they've enjoyed working - read on to see their selections! [1/7] www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...

cambridge.org

Contemporary European History digest, no. 3, January to June 2026 « News# « Cambridge Core Blog

In our third digest, we present our new managing editor; we highlight two recently published prize-winning articles on nude activists in communist Poland and the politics of transnational banking in t...

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

This is a wonderful article on left-wing visions of austerity in the 1970s - anyone with an interest in the subject should read it.

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

To be taken so seriously - and to be given such praise - by a scholar whose work I admire and cite is quite an honour. I will be cherishing this review for a long time!

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

If you're in Berlin, come say hello! I'll be talking identity politics, democracy, and the future of political mobilization in Europe (and running a workshop on the same themes the next day).

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

This is a terrific article, one of the best I've edited in my time on the journal!

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

The outsourcing of visa processing to VFS has long been a scandal in plain sight. One of many, sure, but one that brutally intervenes in the lives of "weak" passport holders when they are most vulnerable: asking a foreign state for the right to travel there. www.politico.eu/article/how-...

politico.eu

How a company turned visas to Europe into big business

Investigation prompts European Commission to launch “comprehensive study” into outsourcing of visa processing.

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

I edited this article; it's very good.

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

I had some thoughts about Vincent Martigny's edited collection of essays about how to the resist the widespread nostalgia in France for the Trente Glorieuses. www.tandfonline.com/eprint/7UDYF...

tandfonline.com

Les temps nouveaux: En finir avec la nostalgie des Trente Glorieuses

Published in Modern & Contemporary France (Ahead of Print, 2026)

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

While scrolling the Blackwell's website, I found out that my little book on France is available for the almost absurdly cheap price of £6. Anyone who needs a primer on France that is short, sharp and (hopefully!) stimulating should go for it... blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...

blackwells.co.uk

France

Emile Chabal, a leading specialist of contemporary France, tells the story of a paradoxical country. From the calamitous defeat by Hitler's armies in 1940 to th

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Let's be very clear for those in the back of the room: THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED ANYWAY AND EVERY EXPERT SAID IT. So there was no need for Labour to do a kneejerk anti-immigration swerve that was strategically dumb and morally reprehensible. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

theguardian.com

Net migration to UK falls by nearly 50% after Labour’s vow to cut numbers

Decline to 171,000 last year will encourage ministers in what is seen as a battleground issue against Reform

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Reposted by Emile Chabal

Maia @maiamindel.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

2024: kamala is brat 2026: keir starmer is mussolini what a decade for political memes

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Reposted by Emile Chabal

Mike Slaven @mcslaven.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

. @emile-chabal.bsky.social and I wrote an article on this: foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/05/b...

Screenshot of a Bluesky post: “It is probably worth pointing out to Britons that the immigration proposals now being made in the UK by parties like Reform are far more extreme than anything even Trump has suggested in the US, and Labour has not only miserably failed to oppose them but has actively egged them on.”

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

That's it. I've checked the very last proofs of the book and it's now off to the printers. I hope it will reach Hobsbawm fans, Hobsbawm sceptics, and anyone curious about the intellectual life of the left in the 20th century! Publication: 18 Aug (US), 4 Sept (UK) www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

This is true - and @christinaboswell.bsky.social and I have written a whole book about it! It's called 'States of Ignorance' and it explains when and why European states have "ignored" irregular migration: www.cambridge.org/core/books/s... (ft. @mcslaven.bsky.social social amongst others!)

theguardian.com

Starmer’s immigration rhetoric follows familiar pattern of bold claims but few results, expert says

Madeleine Sumption says politicians make big claims about things they only partially control to appeal to voters

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Some thoughts on French local elections: general dynamic confirms "quadripolar" fragmentation of French politics (see my article on this from 2022 below). It's *very* difficult to use these elections to predict 2027, but... 1/ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

tandfonline.com

Between neo-liberalism and the nation: France’s political landscape in 2022

France’s 2022 electoral cycle suggests that the basic contours of French politics are in flux. This is largely because the traditional left-right spectrum proved increasingly incapable of structuri...

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

My former student @theozenou.bsky.social has written a great piece about the weird and wonderful world of present-day French royalism. Anyone fancy a quick Restoration...? unherd.com/2026/03/meet...

unherd.com

Meet France's duelling royalists

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

This was fun. Lots of speculation about the upcoming election(s) in France in 2026 and 2027, and even a little bit of solid analysis.

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Reposted by Emile Chabal

Jonathan Ervine @jonathanervine.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Today I had the pleasure of recording an interview with @emile-chabal.bsky.social for the Modern & Contemporary France podcast. Emile shared his thoughts on what's in store for French politics in 2026, talking about Macron's presidency, the far right, and the 2027 Presidential Elections.

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Emile Chabal @emile-chabal.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Impossible not to love this story. Historians represent!

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Reposted by Emile Chabal

Contemporary European History @conteurohistory.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

🧵CEH's second digest is out now, detailing our latest special issues, journal news, and more. And once again our six editors have each highlighted a recent article they've enjoyed - read on to see which ones they picked, and why! ⬇️⬇️⬇️ [1/7] www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...

cambridge.org

Contemporary European History digest, no. 2, August to December 2025 « News# « Cambridge Core Blog

As we - like many other journals - transition towards digital-only publication, we have become acutely aware of how difficult it can be to find out what is happening with Contemporary European History...

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