Missions Resources - Bibliography

Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Revised Ed.
Authors: Anderson, Benedict
ISBN: 0-86091-546-8
Publisher: New York: Verso, 1991
Type of cover: Soft Cover

Summary: This is a book that shook up the study of Nationalism. Anderson was the first to describe the fluid and organic nature of national identity. Originally published in the Eighties, and revised for the end of the cold war, Imagined Communities is the standard that all other theorists start from, or work against. Despite this influence, the book is planted far away from the ivory tower, and is simultaneously easy to read for the beginner, and invigorating for the specialist.

Anderson tears nationalism away from its supposed European roots and thus can explain developments in Indonesia, Brazil and Iran, that defy Eurocentric analysis. It is for that reason that I recommend this book: it helps untangle several enigmas wrapped in mystery.

-Paul Grant