The Cult of the Nation in France: Inventing Nationalism, 1680-1800

By David A. Bell

Book Overview

Using 18th-century France as a case study, David Bell offers an alternative argument about the origins of nationalism. Before the 18th century, the very idea of nation-building - a central component of nationalism - did not exist. During this period, leading French intellectual and political figures came to see perfect national unity as a critical priority, and so sought ways to endow all French people with the same language, laws, customs, and values. The period thus gave rise to the first large-scale nationalist programme in history.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674004477
• ISBN13: 9780674004474
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.8" x 1.3" x 6.8"