Nationalism Books

Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism

Benedict Anderson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 30 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Thought-provoking but unsatisfying 3 out of 5 stars.
10 of 12 people found this review helpful.

This short book/long essay offers some interesting insights on nationalism, but is limited by its Marxist-materialist perspective. Anderson obviously knows his history and his typology of three essential nationalisms (the new republics of the Americas in the late 18th-early 19th centuries, popular national revival movements in 19th-century Europe, and suffocating official nationalisms such as the British and Russian empires) is based on the history of capitalism, the development of printing, mass communication, class conflicts, and world trade. Anderson argues that these models were adapted in one form or another in the newly independent nations of Africa and Asia after World War II.
Psychology is the unmentioned elephant in the drawing room. There is no consideration of group/crowd psychology or built-in human aggressiveness and territoriality, the human need to define oneself in a group in opposition to others, or the way that nations are felt by many people to be a kind of family, with rulers as parent figures. The absence of psychology causes Anderson's argument to run out of steam toward the end, when he offers only a few pages about patriotism and racism, and here becomes shallow and unconvincing.
Some nation-states are no doubt very artificial (as Anderson's "imagined" title suggests), and borders between countries are often artificial. But cultural and linguistic differences between groups are very real. Anderson recognizes the importance of language differences. At one point he quotes a distinguished Indonesian author, leaving the quote untranslated. (Are we supposed to be impressed because Anderson reads Indonesian and we, presumably, don't?) However, Anderson does not give much consideration to cultural (including religious) differences, other than some mention of this issue in his discussion of Japan and Indonesia.
There are other curious omissions. Anderson does not note that people often have multiple and conflicting loyalties (allegiance to a nation, but also to a region, or to a religion). He never mentions the Roman Empire, says little or nothing about the Arab world, diaspora populations or stateless peoples.
Anderson is an academic writing for other academics. He wants to be quoted and to be considered clever, hence the catchy title. Readers outside academia may become irritated with his gassy, excessively precious and self-indulgent style (phrases like "discontinuity-in-connectedness"). Anderson's references to trendy authors (Foucault, Bakhtin) do not really contribute to his argument and the authors in question are no longer as trendy now as they were in the early 1980s.
This book can certainly stimulate your thinking on this important topic, but will leave many questions unanswered.

Editorial Review:

Anderson's essay shows how the European processes of inventing nationalism were transported to the Third World through colonialism and were adapted by subject races in Latin America and Asia.

The Star-Spangled Banner: The Making of an American Icon

Lonn Taylor, Jeffrey Brodie, Kathleen Kendrick

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Why Proudly It Still Waves 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

American history and American myth are often inexorably intertwined, making it difficult to tell where one begins and the other takes off. Myths, after all, are meant to simplify and inspire; history to record events faithfully. The inspiring myth of peaceable Pilgrims and Indians sharing a Thanksgiving meal is maintained only by shuffling the Pequot War unceremoniously offstage. This conundrum injected an element of distrust as I picked "The Star Spangled Banner. Would it be inspiring yet inaccurate nonsense? Or brutal honesty that strips away all poetry and hope? Luckily, the book provided a balanced view of the history and stories behind the noble myths of the flag that inspired the American national anthem.

"The Star Spangled Banner" provides a wide-ranging overview of topics related to the American flag and anthem -- the War of 1812, the Battle of Baltimore, the flag's history as family keepsake, its bestowal upon the Smithsonian, and efforts to restore and display it. We get great snippets of primary materials, including James Madison's war message to Congress and Dolly Madison's (perhaps after-the fact) description of her flight from threatened Washington. The story of how Francis Scott Key came to be in Baltimore Harbor to witness the bombardment of Fort McHenry is provided as well as the story of how his little poem quickly came to national attention. Along the way, preconceptions about the flag and anthem come under some scrutiny. Was the anthem based on an old English drinking song? No -- "Anacreon in Heaven" and its relationship to an English philosophical society is examined. Is the flag in question the one that flew over Fort McHenry during the bombardment? Though the flag was almost certainly hoisted in triumph above the fort as the British abandoned their attack, the book dances around this question, providing conflicting primary evidence and letting the reader decide. And is the damage on the flag due to war, insects, or souvenir hunters? The book provides enough information for the open-minded history buff while not pressing too hard on the sometimes shaky premises of myth lovers.

I was grateful and impressed the book's gentleness cuts both ways. I especially appreciated the book's even-handed approach to dealing with the way the American flag has fit into American culture, from the Revolution to the present. The flag did not start out as the primary emblem of our nation until some years after the Revolution, during which Americans fought under a kaleidoscopic variety of banners. A short explanation of the evolving Pledge of Allegiance was instructive -- especially the way in which school children (until to WWII, for obvious reasons) saluted the flag in a way that struck later Americans as a little too similar to the Nazi salute. And the flag's use (or abuse) during the tumultuous 1960s is reported without disapproval, but with the historian's non-judgmental stance.

"The Star Spangled Banner" only falters in its later chapters when it describes the Smithsonian's acquisition of the precious relic and its various attempts to restore and display it. A little too much marketing for the Smithsonian rather than the flag, methought. But this shortcoming was vastly overshadowed by the book's high quality artwork, history, explanations and illustrations. Gorgeous, informative and (goldangit) inspiring. Great stuff!

Editorial Review:

More than just the tale of one flag and one song, The Star-Spangled Banner is the story of how Americans—often in times of crisis—have expressed their patriotism and defined their identity through the "broad stripes and bright stars" of our preeminent national symbol, a tradition that still thrives today. The original flag that inspired Francis Scott Key "by the dawn's early light" has been cared for by the Smithsonian since 1907. The dramatic story of this flag—and of the Smithsonian's effort to save it for posterity—are told here in this lavishly illustrated book that also explores the broader meaning of the flag in American life.

Who Are We: The Challenges to America's National Identity

Samuel P. Huntington

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Total reviews: 57 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In his seminal work The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Samuel Huntington argued provocatively and presciently that with the end of the cold war, "civilizations" were replacing ideologies as the new fault lines in international politics.

Now in his controversial new work, Who Are We?, Huntington focuses on an identity crisis closer to home as he examines the impact other civilizations and their values are having on our own country.

America was founded by British settlers who brought with them a distinct culture, says Huntington, including the English language, Protestant values, individualism, religious commitment, and respect for law. The waves of immigrants that later came to the United States gradually accepted these values and assimilated into America's Anglo-Protestant culture. More recently, however, our national identity has been eroded by the problems of assimilating massive numbers of primarily Hispanic immigrants and challenged by issues such as bilingualism, multiculturalism, the devaluation of citizenship, and the "denationalization" of American elites.

September 11 brought a revival of American patriotism and a renewal of American identity, but already there are signs that this revival is fading. Huntington argues the need for us to reassert the core values that make us Americans. Timely and thought-provoking, Who Are We? is an important book that is certain to shape our national conversation about who we are.

Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know

Tim Judah

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 1.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared its independence, becoming the seventh state to emerge from the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. A tiny country of just two million people, 90% of whom are ethnic Albanians, Kosovo is central-geographically, historically, and politically-to the future of the Western Balkans and, in turn, its potential future within the European Union. But the fate of both Kosovo, condemned by Serbian leaders as a "fake state" and the region as a whole, remains uncertain.
In Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know, Tim Judah provides a straight-forward guide to the complicated place that is Kosovo. Judah, who has spent years covering the region, offers succinct, penetrating answers to a wide range of questions: Why is Kosovo important? Who are the Albanians? Who are the Serbs? Why is Kosovo so important to Serbs? What role does Kosovo play in the region and in the world? Judah reveals how things stand now and presents the history and geopolitical dynamics that have led to it. The most important of these is the question of the right to self-determination, invoked by the Kosovo Albanians, as opposed to right of territorial integrity invoked by the Serbs. For many Serbs, Kosovo's declaration of independence and subsequent recognition has been traumatic, a savage blow to national pride. Albanians, on the other hand, believe their independence rights an historical wrong: the Serbian conquest (Serbs say "liberation") of Kosovo in 1912.
For anyone wishing to understand both the history and possible future of Kosovo at this pivotal moment in its history, this book offers a wealth of insight and information in a uniquely accessible format.

Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age 1798-1939

Albert Hourani

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The genesis of Arab modern thought 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This book is an extensive version of Hisham Sharabi's Arab Intellectuals. It highlights the reaction of the Arab intellectual circles to the expanding European influence that had reached the Arab world by the early 19th century.
Hourani, however, presents a more thorough description of the life and thought of the most prominent Arab thinkers of the time including Jamaluddine Al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdo among others as opposed to Sharabi's brief account on the life and works of these people.
Despite the academic nature of this work, grasping what's in it is easy and not at all complicated. Hourani's narration is well-researched and elegant while his translation of the original texts is also remarkable. The end result is an accurate account that invites the admiration of the readers.
This book is so much needed for those who are interested to understand the evolution of Arab thought over the past two centuries and how this evolution was interrupted with the discovery of oil and the advent of imperialism.

Editorial Review:

Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age is the most comprehensive study of the modernizing trend of political and social thought in the Arab Middle East. Albert Hourani studies the way in which ideas about politics and society changed during the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries, in response to the expanding influence of Europe. His main attention is given to the movement of ideas in Egypt and Lebanon. He shows how two streams of thought, the one aiming to restate the social principles of Islam, and the other to justify the separation of religion from politics, flowed into each other to create the Egyptian and Arab nationalisms of the present century. The last chapter of the book surveys the main tendencies of thought in the post-war years. Since its publication in 1962, this book has been regarded as a modern classic of interpretation. It was reissued by the Cambridge University Press in 1983 and has subsequently sold over 8000 copies.

The Myth of American Diplomacy: National Identity and U.S. Foreign Policy

Walter L. Hixson

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In this major reconceptualization of the history of U.S. foreign policy, Walter Hixson engages with the entire sweep of that history, from its Puritan beginnings to the twenty-first century’s war on terror. He contends that a mythical national identity, which includes the notion of American moral superiority and the duty to protect all of humanity, has had remarkable continuity through the centuries, repeatedly propelling America into war against an endless series of external enemies. As this myth has supported violence, violence in turn has supported the myth.

The Myth of American Diplomacy shows the deep connections between American foreign policy and the domestic culture from which it springs. Hixson investigates the national narratives that help to explain ethnic cleansing of Indians, nineteenth-century imperial thrusts in Mexico and the Philippines, the two World Wars, the Cold War, the Iraq War, and today’s war on terror. He examines the discourses within America that have continuously inspired what he calls our “pathologically violent foreign policy.” The presumption that, as an exceptionally virtuous nation, the United States possesses a special right to exert power only encourages violence, Hixson concludes, and he suggests some fruitful ways to redirect foreign policy toward a more just and peaceful world.

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Fixed Ideas: America Since 9.11

Joan Didion

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Oh see what we cannot say 5 out of 5 stars.
40 of 45 people found this review helpful.

What has happened to freedom of speech in America? Why are we not publicly and openly debating the self-serving and undeomocratic policies of the Bush administration? Didion, in another fine essay on American life, asks these questions and tries to answer them. This is a fine book for anyone who worries about our nation proceeding out of control in its war for oil and corporate interests. Didion is clear in her concerns about why we have lost our powers of free speech and citizenship. A must read for anyone who cares about this nation.

Editorial Review:

Novelist and essayist Joan Didion writes about the refusal of Americans to openly discuss and debate the Bush administration's new unilateralism toward both domestic and international policies since 9/11. This provocative and persuasive essay was originally published in The New York Review of Books, and garnered a tremendous response from the magazine's readers. In a preface commissioned for this book edition, Frank Rich, the popular op-ed columnist for The New York Times, echoes her argument with his own passionate analysis. Fixed Ideas is an incisive, timely political commentary from an American virtuoso.

Peripheral Visions: Publics, Power, and Performance in Yemen (Chicago Studies in Practices of Meaning)

Lisa Wedeen

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The government of Yemen, unified since 1990, remains largely incapable of controlling violence or providing goods and services to its population, but the regime continues to endure despite its fragility and peripheral location in the global political and economic order. Revealing what holds Yemen together in such tenuous circumstances, Peripheral Visions shows how citizens form national attachments even in the absence of strong state institutions.
Lisa Wedeen, who spent a year and a half in Yemen observing and interviewing its residents, argues that national solidarity in such weak states tends to arise not from attachments to institutions but through both extraordinary events and the ordinary activities of everyday life. Yemenis, for example, regularly gather to chew qat, a leafy drug similar to caffeine, as they engage in wide-ranging and sometimes influential public discussions of even the most divisive political and social issues. These lively debates exemplify Wedeen’s contention that democratic, national, and pious solidarities work as ongoing, performative practices that enact and reproduce a citizenry’s shared points of reference. Ultimately, her skillful evocations of such practices shift attention away from a narrow focus on government institutions and electoral competition and toward the substantive experience of participatory politics.

Irish Freedom: The History of Nationalism in Ireland

Richard English

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Editorial Review:

Richard English's brilliant new book is a compelling narrative history of Irish nationalism, in which events are not merely recounted but analyzed. Full of rich detail, drawn from years of original research and also from the extensive specialist literature on the subject, it offers explanations of why Irish nationalists have believed and acted as they have, why their ideas and strategies have changed over time, and what effect Irish nationalism has had in shaping modern Ireland.

It takes us from the Ulster Plantation to Home Rule, from the Famine of 1847 to the Hunger Strikes of the 1970s, from Parnell to Pearse, from Wolfe Tone to Gerry Adams, from the bitter struggle of the Civil War to the uneasy peace of the early twenty-first century. Is it imaginable that Ireland might - as some have suggested - be about to enter a post-nationalist period? Or will Irish nationalism remain a defining force on the island in future years?

The New American Revolution: Using the Power of the Individual to Save Our Nation from Extremists

Tammy Bruce

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Total reviews: 56 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The New American Revolution A controversial and powerful manifesto for twenty-first-century American Patriots "It's time to swing back the curtains and invite the light in. And that light is American Nationalism, perennially shunned by the Left, condemned by Socialists, and without any special interest group fighting for its rebirth. It has no legitimate advocates. And yet it is the very idea that will save not only our nation, but the rest of the world as well," declares Tammy Bruce. With this remarkable book, the bestselling author, activist, and independent pundit pulls no punches, illustrating how a new American revolution is upon us -- a revolution based on American Nationalism and Individualism. Grounded in reason, classical philosophy, and hard-earned experience, Bruce explores the dramatic shift in American attitudes since the tragedy of September 11. She illustrates how in our effort to take this nation back from nihilistic extremists, American Nationalism, individualism, gun ownership, the tearing down of liberal institutions, personal activism, and knowing the enemy are the new tools for today's Patriot. The "Hate America First" ideology has prevailed for far too long, says Bruce, and she now offers a powerful prescription to reverse the moral and cultural decay wrought by Leftist extremists for four decades. This power to stem the tide resides squarely within the reawakened American founding concept of "E Pluribus Unum", or "Out of Many, One." It is this ingrained individualist spirit of the average American that makes this country thebest nation on earth, and now fuels the noble fight against the scourge of the Collectivist Left. In a positive framework with empowering ideas, insight, and tools for direct action, Bruce has captured a watershed moment in American history.