国家という枠組みに帰属意識を持つ人の多くが直面する政治的・道徳的課題を検討します。民族に降りかかった過去の難事や対立を、社会学的、哲学的、人類学的見地から分析するほか、歴史の中での国家、民族の縄張り意識、民族と宗教の複雑な共存関係に注目し、人間らしくあることとナショナリズムがいかに関係するのかを考察します。
   

• Highly topical subject, including examples from many recent conflicts in the Balkans and the Middle East
• Written to appeal to a students on a variety of courses, including: history, geography, anthropology, law, religion, art, and sociology
• Examines the subject through conflicts past and present, rather than exclusively focusing on the theory
• Explores the often tension-filled relation between nationality, religion, and identity

   
This book examines the political and moral challenges that face the vast majority of human beings who consider themselves to be members of various nations. It explores nationality through the difficulties and conflicts that have arisen throughout history, and discusses nations and nationalism from social, philosophical, and anthropological perspectives. 
  
In this fascinating Very Short Introduction, Steven Grosby looks at the nation in history, the territorial element in nationality, and the complex ways nationality has co-existed with religion, and shows how closely linked the concept of nationalism is with being human.