After reading Hobsbawm's fine essay in The Invention of Tradition I was excited to read his four volumes on 1789-1994. So far I've read the first volume, and was very disappointed. It's the kind of history book that gives you the broad sweep, but don't expect names, dates, or God forbid, events. I couldn't help wondering: who is his ideal reader? Certainly not the expert: it's too vague. And the book is useless as an introduction, because it alludes to events, even very important events, without explaining them. The beginner would stumble around in that miasma of stage directions and throat-clearing. I felt he never got to the point, that what he considered background should have been in the foreground. His approach worked in Industry and Empire, a straightforward work of social and economic history, but it's disastrous if you're looking for political history, or a history of ideas.

Hugh Brogan's Penguin History of the USA, on the other hand, is an excellent introduction, chock-full of details and debates, and never tedious. And he doesn't consider it beneath his dignity to give character sketches, or memorable anecdotes, all of which serve as mental signposts, or a skeleton on which to hang the rest.