Nationalism: the nature and evolution of an idea

Abstract

In the two centuries since the French Revolution, political nationalism has become a force of tremendous importance in the modern world. It is also an extremely complex one. It helps hold together the historical events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, showing them to be part of a continuing crisis. It has brought the histories of modern Asia, Africa and the Pacific into relation with European history, and made them part of universal history and politics. It can be, and has been, democratic or authoritarian, forward-looking or backward-looking, socialist or reactionary. The lectures collected here, presented by some of the leading thinkers in the field, discuss nationalism in Europe and Asia in all its complexity. They will be of vital interest not only to students of history and politics but to all those who seek to understand the contemporary world.