National Thought in Europe

Bringing together sources from many countries and many centuries, this study critically analyses the growth of national thought and of nationalism - from medieval ethnic prejudice to the Romantic belief in a nation's 'soul'. The belief and ideology of the nation's cultural individuality emerged from a Europe-wide exchange of ideas, often articulated in literature and belles lettres . In the last two centuries, these ideas have transformed the map of Europe and the relations between people and government. In tracing the modern European nation-state, cross-nationally and historically, as the outcome of a cultural self-invention, Leerssen also provides a surprising perspective on Europe's contemporary identity politics. National Thought in Europe has been brought up to date in this new, third edition.