This reference/companion reviews all aspects of European nationalism from the French Revolution through to the aftermath of World War I when the nationalist issues and problems that are coming to dominate the political history of our own time were already fully established. It provides the reader with the necessary facts and figures in a series of "chronologies", initially Europe-wide but then charting the fortunes of each separate nation and ethnic group; "statistical tables"; nationalist "biographies"; an extended political "glossary"; detailed "bibliographies" arranged both by topic and by nation; and a concise "atlas" section; all presented in an accessible form, with commentary. It is pan-European in scope, ranging geographically from Iceland to the Black Sea and Turkey and sets nationalism in the British Isles (the Irish, Scottish and Welsh experience) alongside that of continental Europe. It includes less familiar nations and groupings like the Icelanders and the Gypsies and has a strong geo-political emphasis, highlighting the interrelationship of history and geography throughout.
It makes use of the research and skills of social science, as well as the traditional work of the historian, to throw light on the dynamics and rationale of the nationalist phenomenon.