The Nation in History: Historiographical Debates about Ethnicity and Nationalism - Softcover

Smith, Anthony D

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745625800 ISBN 13: 9780745625805

Publisher: Polity, 2000

Synopsis

In this thought-provoking new book, Anthony Smith analyses key debates between historians and social scientists on the role of nations and nationalism in history. He argues that there are three issues which have shaped debates in the field of nations and nationalism: its nature and origin, its antiquity or modernity and its role in social change.

About this title

Review:

'Drawing examples from across the globe and providing succinct summaries of key ideas about nationalism developed by philosophers, sociologists and historians from Herder and Rousseau to Homi Bhaba and William McNeill, this is a stimulating and insightful essay by one of the foremost experts on nationalism studies today.' English Historical Review

"For thirty years, Anthony D. Smith has published extensively on the phenomenon of the 'nation' and has a global reputation in this field." History

From the Back Cover:

In this thought-provoking new book, Anthony Smith analyses key debates between historians and social scientists on the role of nations and nationalism in history.

In a wide-ranging analysis of the work of historians, sociologists, political scientists and others, he argues that there are three key issues which have shaped debates in this field: first, the nature and origin of nations and nationalism; second, the antiquity or modernity of nations and nationalism; and third, the role of nations and nationalism in historical, and especially recent, social change.

Anthony Smith provides an incisive critique of the debate between modernists, perennialists and primordialists over the origins, development and contemporary significance of nations and nationalism. Drawing on a wide range of examples from antiquity and the medieval epoch, as well as the modern world, he develops a distinctive ethnosymbolic account of nations and nationalism.

This important book by one of the world's leading authorities on nationalism and ethnicity will be of particular interest to students and scholars in history, sociology and politics.

About this edition

• Publisher: Polity
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0745625800
• ISBN 13: 9780745625805
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 124