ABSTRACT
I don't known where I'm going, but I know where I've been. I can't say what life will show me, but I know what I've seen.
Jimmy Cliff, Famed Jamaican Reggae Artist
Introduction
All nations are a product of history. History is how the identity of a nation is established and differentiated. National identity is created by the perennial structural context in which it exists, and history is the principal structural context in which the meaning of national events is generated and realized. As Cooper illustrates in his acclaimed fictional novel The Spy, history can substitute for the romantic environment and even for the social coherence lacking in many pluralistic countries. 1 It can provide the context for extrapolating national traits or characteristics (e.g. culture, language, religion, and politics), enhance the selfconcept of the nation, and deepen public expressions of citizenship and patriotism. It is important, therefore, to consider the dissemination of common history as a quintessential part of the process of national integration.2
