In the first theoretical analysis of historiographical debates about ethnicity and nationalism, Anthony Smith provides a probing account of historians' assumptions and explanations of nationalism in different historical epochs. Ranging broadly over the contributions and divergent perspectives of historians, political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists and others who have contributed to these fundamental debates, Smith codifies the most cogent responses that have been offered to three defining issues in this area: the nature and origin of the nation and nationalism; the antiquity or modernity of nations and nationalism; and the role of nations and nationalism in historical, and especially recent, social change. Using the examples of Persia, Israel, and Greece for long-term illustrations, Smith also discusses ethnic and national identities in France, Germany, England, Yugoslavia, and elsewhere to illuminate the uses and the meaning of alternative theories, and ends with a convincing case for the value of his own ethno-symbolist approach.

STEPHEN J. SOLARZ (1940–2010) served for 24 years in public office both in the New York State Assembly and in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected from Brooklyn’s 13th Congressional District to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974 and reelected eight times. He served for 18 years on the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, serving as chairman of the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, and the Subcommittee on Africa. As a congressman, he traveled widely and met with dozens of world leaders, and became a leading spokesman on behalf of democracy and human rights. Mr. Solarz is a graduate of Brandeis University, class of 1962.