Who We Are: A History of Popular Nationalism - Softcover

Wiebe, Robert H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691155526 ISBN 13: 9780691155524

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2012

Synopsis

How did educated Westerners make an enemy of an inspiration that has changed the lives of billions? Why is nationalism synonymous with atavism, fanaticism, xenophobia, and bloodshed? In this book, author argues that we too often conflate nationalism with what states do in its name. He discusses America's place in transatlantic history, and more.

About this title

Review

"This is an extraordinary book. There are scores of books on nationalism, but none like this. With remarkable economy and sustained analytical force, Wiebe examines the development of nationalism and lays out its connection to the other forces that shaped the modern world. Wiebe is incapable of writing an uninteresting sentence, and what he writes here can be neither ignored nor forgotten."--James Sheehan, Stanford University

"Robert Wiebe has written a remarkable, very important, and surely unique book. It is a stunning performance by one of the most original and influential historians of his generation."--Thomas Bender, New York University

"An eloquent and profound new study of the phenomenon of
nationalism. . . . Wiebe's overview of the role of nationalism in world politics, like his earlier books, is learned, penetrating, frequently pungent, and always free of cant."---Michael Lind, The Washington Monthly

"This is the most bracing, insightful study of nationalism in years."---Jim Sleeper, Wilson Quarterly

"A keen and critical study of a powerful constellation of political
sympathies too frequently dismissed as retrograde, ignorant and xenophobic. Nationalism continues to touch an acutely sensitive nerve. . . ."---Chris Lehmann, The Washington Post Book World

"In this elegant and sweeping account . . . Wiebe portrays nationalism as a genuinely authentic impulse of people who see themselves as linked by common ancestry and seek common governance."--Foreign Affairs

"Unique and vital. . . . A powerful and influential analysis of nationalism and its impact on the human psyche and group actions."---Joseph W. Danielson, History: Reviews of New Books

About the Author

Robert H. Wiebe, who died in 2000, was Professor Emeritus of History at Northwestern University. His books include "Self-Rule: A Cultural History of American Democracy, The Opening of American Society: From the Adoption of the Constitution to the Eve of Disunion, and Segmented Society: An Introduction to the Meaning of America"

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0691155526
• ISBN 13: 9780691155524
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 306