Sad to think his passing may mark the last time any of us will see such a headline.

Happy to know that his work lives on.

Could be that Ferguson recognizes that which many of us do--that HobsbawM, regardless of his political leanings (leanings to which I am certainly more sympathetic than Ferguson), was simply a brilliant and engaging scholar. Between his passing and Judt's untimely death a few years back, the field has certainly lost some of its giants in recent times.

Can anyone recommend a book?

@4 The Age of Revolution is one of his big ones, covering the French and Industrial Revolutions (what he called the 'dual revolution' responsible for the modern world) and more fun than that might suggest. On History is a collection of essays that almost made me become a historian, and Uncommon People looks at the radical political history of (among other things) shoemakers, the Luddites, bandits, guerrillas, and jazz.