ABSTRACT
Ernest Gellner's Nations and Nationalism offers a readable and innovative account of the origin of two important phenomena: the nation, and the idea of the nation, generally called nationalism. Gellner's book was the first to make a clear argument about the connection between nationalism and the modern world. He theorized that nations formed as a result of the social and cultural changes brought on by industrialization. Economic forces, technology, science, and culture continue to change the world, so Gellner's theory continues to receive attention. It may even gain new relevance. One cannot overstate the influence of Ernest Gellner's Nations and Nationalism. In 2008, the Times Literary Supplement named it one of the 100 most influential books since World War II. At the heart of Gellner's work is the idea that the destabilizing forces of industrialism cause nationalism to take a certain shape in a given society.
