Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism

An absolutely breathtaking work of world-historical scholarship. The artificiality of the "nation" is really brought home here, and so too is the nebulous nature of precolonial politics and societies. Read this, no matter what. ( )

Lots of detail, well argued and well defended. Maybe too much detail for me. I'd happily have read the cliffsnotes version. But overall interesting and happy to have encountered it. It helped undo some of my (unfounded, yet likely widespread) notions about the inevitability and timelessness of nations and nationalism. (They're relatively modern phenomena despite efforts to historically legitimize their present existence.) I haven't been a fan of nationalism for a while- this book further bolsters that dislike and provides more tools for putting it in context and critiquing it. The (argued) links between the rise of nationalism and church languages as well as print media were interesting.

I really ought to have taken notes along the way since the bounty of detail sometimes distracted me from the broader points it was trying to make. ( )

Very interesting and difficult book about how we conceive Nationalism. I honestly wouldn't have been able to make it through without the context and guidance of my post-colonial lit. class. If you're up for it, though, Anderson's writing style is clear and engaging though the concepts are at times subtle and complex. ( )

Very interesting and difficult book about how we conceive Nationalism. I honestly wouldn't have been able to make it through without the context and guidance of my post-colonial lit. class. If you're up for it, though, Anderson's writing style is clear and engaging though the concepts are at times subtle and complex. ( )

這個版本收錄2006年Verso新版所增加的一篇〈旅行與交通〉（採用​2007新刷版），描述這本書的翻譯與流佈，也簡短談到作者寫這本書的動機。另外在附錄新增三篇文章：​2003年作者欲來台演講的講稿〈帝國／台灣〉、因故未能成行而發表的〈曼谷遙寄〉、譯者吳叡人關於本書與作者的〈​黑暗之時．光明之時〉。封面令人費解，有否可能是作者對吳叡人的叮嚀「要打擊帝國，你得要好好瞄準，然後一​ ( )