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Oxford University Press, USA

Chosen Peoples: Sacred Sources of National Identity

Chosen Peoples: Sacred Sources of National Identity

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'Unto thy seed I have given this land.' From the moment of God's covenant with Abraham in the Old Testament, the idea that a people are chosen by God has had a central role in shaping national identity.
Chosen Peoples argues powerfully that sacred belief remains central to national identity, even in an increasingly secular, globalized modern world. In this important new study, Anthony D. Smith goes in search of the deep Judeo-Christian roots of the many manifestations of national identity.
This rich and timely contribution to current debates about nationalism explains the complex historical reasons behind often violent modern conflicts around issues of land, culture, religion, and politics. Tracing the development of individual nations over many centuries, it offers fascinating insights into the religious and cultural foundations of countries such as Great Britain, the United States, Israel, France, and Germany. The argument draws on a wide range of examples from historic landscapes in Ireland, Switzerland and Egypt, myths of Arthurian Britain, Holy Russia, and Byzantium, through memories of a 'Golden Age', to the modern commemoration of the 'Glorious Dead', and of victims of war.


Author: Anthony D. Smith
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 01/01/2004
Pages: 330
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.72lbs
Size: 9.88h x 6.06w x 1.12d
ISBN: 9780192100177

Review Citation(s):
Choice 10/01/2004 pg. 333

About the Author

Anthony D. Smith is Professor of Ethnicity and Nationalism at the London School of Economics, vice-president of the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism. He is the author of ublications include Nationalism(1994) and Ethnicity (1996) (both co-edited with John Hutchinson) from the Oxford Readers series.

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