Cult of the Nation in France Paperback by David A. Bell

Product Details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press (2003-09-02)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 320 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780674012370
• Item Weight: 368.55 grams
• Dimensions: 0.0 x 0.0 x 0.0 cm

Using eighteenth-century France as a case study, David Bell offers an important new argument about the origins of nationalism. Before the eighteenth 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 program in history.

About the Author

David A. Bell is Professor of History, Princeton University.