Bandits Author:E. J. Hobsbawm Bandits transcend the label of criminals; they are robbers and outlaws elevated to the status of avengers and champions of social justice. Some, like Robin Hood, Rob Roy, and Jesse James, are famous throughout the world, the stuff of story and myth. Others, from Balkan haiduks and Indian dacoits to Brazilian congaceiros, are... more » known only to their own countries' people.
In his celebrated study of these fascinating figures, Eric Hobsbawm, "one of the few genuinely great historians of our century," according to the New Republic, spans four hundred years and four continents, setting these folk heroes against the ballads, legends, and films they have inspired. The result is "a dazzling historical squib, fizzing with ideas and strange stories" (The Guardian).« less