provides a wide-ranging study of nationalism in a non-European context, showing how the 'invention' of modern India and Pakistan drew heavily for inspiration on indigenous values. Analyzing both the effects of colonial rule and the post-colonial aftermath, the book is a readable and up-to-date introduction to the major issues in the contemporary history of the sub-continent and an examination of a recent trend in historical writing to emphasize the extent to which nations are made, not born. The book explores whether the forging of the nation is a matter of conscious manipulation by an elite or guided by more popular imperatives or a combination of the two.

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