Liah Greenfelds theory, built on decades of systematic historical and cross-societal comparison, challenges the conventional assumptions of social science. This book offers an illuminating introduction to her theory and advances a cross-civilizational perspective on our world of nations and its connections to collective violence or individual madness. A must read. -- Chikako Takeishi, Chuo University, Japan Reading Greenfeld soothes the restless modern mind. Refusing ideology or comforting illusions, she employs precise concepts and creates apt frameworks to capture the realities of modern meaning. Her work reveals how nationalism inscribes modernity. The radiance of Greenfelds prose lies in widening the horizon of cultural science, where new vistas of meaning emerge. -- CHEUNG, Yuk Man, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan This second edition of Advanced Introduction to Nationalism falls squarely within the tradition of grand theory, a form of sweeping social analysis whose demise was wrongly if widely announced only a few decades ago. In this sparkling work Greenfeld traces the evolution of nationalism. Along the way, she refutes many prevailing misconceptions about state and society, reveals the social underpinnings of the rise of nationalism in England and elsewhere, exposes the pathetic weakness undergirding Karl Marxs thought, explores Max Webers trenchant spirit of capitalism, challenges the concept of totalitarianism, and explains the weaknesses in how most of us define socialism, communism, and fascism. -- Joseph Drew, University of Maryland Global Campus, USA
