Nations and Nationalism (New Perspectives on the Past)

Nations and Nationalism (New Perspectives on the Past)

by JohnBreuilly (Introduction), ErnestGellner (Author)

Synopsis

First published in 1983, Nations and Nationalism remains one of the most influential explanations of the emergence of nationalism ever written. This updated edition of Ernest Gellner's now-canonical work includes a new introductory essay from John Breuilly, tracing the way the field has evolved over the past two decades, and a bibliography of important work on nationalism since 1983.

$48.74

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 152
Edition: 2
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 15 May 2009

ISBN 10: 0801475007
ISBN 13: 9780801475009

Media Reviews

Breuilly's new introduction provides an excellent critical overview of Gellner's writings on nationalism, judiciously evaluating his ideas while also providing insights into their place and continuing significance within the wider historiography of nationalism studies.

--Paul Lawrence, Open University

A better explanation than anyone has yet offered of why nationalism is such a prominent principle of political legitimacy today. This is a terse and forceful work... the product of great intellectual energy and an impressive range of knowledge.

--Times Literary Supplement

Brilliant, provocative... a great book.

--New Statesman

An important book... It is a new starting line from which all subsequent discussions of nationalism will have to begin.

--New Society

Periodically, an important book emerges that makes us, through the uniqueness of its theory, perceive history as we have not seen it before. Ernest Gellner has written such a volume. Students of nationalism will have to come to grips with his interpretation of the causes for the emergence of nationalism, since he has declared that most of the previous explanations are largely mythical.

--American Historical Review
Author Bio
The late Ernest Gellner (1925-1995) was Director of the Centre for the Study of Nationalism, part of the Central European University, in Prague. His many books included Plough, Sword and Book: The Structure of Human History, Conditions of Liberty: Civil Society and Its Rivals, and Language and Solitude: Wittgenstein, Malinowski and the Habsburg Dilemma. John Breuilly is Professor of Nationalism and Ethnicity at the London School of Economics. His books include The Formation of the First German Nation-State, 1800-1871 and Nationalism and the State.