Nationalism is one of the most complex sources of conflicts and identities in the contemporary world, but few reports on current conflicts explain how nationalist ideas emerged and gained influence in modern world history.

Lloyd Kramer's lucid account of Western nationalisms during and after the era of the American and French Revolutions thus provides a valuable, concise description of political, religious, and literary ideas that still shape national identities, even when the historical origins of these ideas are forgotten or ignored.

Kramer uses numerous examples from specific writings to show how nationalist ideas appeared in the works of authors such as J. G. Fichte, Jules Michelet, Adam Mickiewicz, Joseph Mazzini, George Bancroft, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Kramer explains how nationalist beliefs and identities evolved at the same time on both sides of the Atlantic and demonstrates how cultural and intellectual history can offer much needed analytical perspectives for understanding nationalisms that still flourish throughout the modern world.