This book on nationalism, forged a new field of study when it first appeared in 1983. The author updates and elaborates on the core question : what makes people live, die and kill in the name of nations ? He shows how an originary nationalism born in the Americas was adopted by popular movements in Europe, by imperialist powers, and by the anti-imperialist resistances in Asia and Africa, and explores the way communities were created by the growth of the nation-state, the interaction between capitalism and printing, and the birth of vernacular languages-of-state. He revisits these fundamental ideas, showing how their relevance has been tested by the events of the past two decades.
