Social Preconditions of National Revival in Europe

Rating:
Summary: Not for general readers
Review: Hroch's text has long been a standard text for serious scholars of nationalism, and it is very academic, not meant for nor very accessible to the general reader. In this book, Hroch deals with a very specific aspect of the development of nationalism, the so-called "national awakening" period (which he refers to as "Phase B"), in a specific place, northern Europe. His research focuses specifically on the cases of Norway, Bohemia (the Czechs), Finland, Lithuania, Estonia, Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) and the Schleswig region (its Danish minority), and he looks for the social underpinning of nationalism by looking at the occupations and backgrounds of those who initially promoted the national idea, whom he calls "patriots." Hroch conducted very extensive and meticulous research, and his results are quite revealing. However, the section of the book in which he details the fruits of his labors makes for excruciatingly tedious reading, even for those very interested in the subject matter. The problem with this book is that the author seems to have a difficult time integrating its exclusive focus into the broader historical phenomenon that nationalism represents. One key problem, which has been noted by other reviewers, is that he fails to explain with sufficient clarity the transitions between phases (i.e. A, B and C) in his three-level theory of the initial development of nations. Also, there seems to be moments when the author extrapolates the results of his research into "patriots" onto the wider society without sufficient explanation, so readers may find themselves asking a number of questions afterwards. To his credit, Hroch admits the limited scope of his work several times in the course of the book, but this hardly makes up for its shortcomings. Nonetheless, this book is an althogether commendable and valuable contribution to the study of nationalism, albeit one with limited appeal.