Abstract
Ernest Gellner's Nations and Nationalism , which was published in 1983, is a core reading for the study of eighteenth and nineteenth-century European history for it cleverly conceptualizes notions –namely nationalism and nation-state- that are essential components of that period. The course Culture and Politics in Europe 1700-1870 embraces historical events as well as cultural, social, economic and politic trends and among all, the birth of the nation-state is one of the major concepts it studies. The review will mainly focus on chapters one to seven of Gellner's book for they are the only chapters relevant for the course. The aim is to show to what extent this text is essential to the study of culture and politics in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Europe and, consequently, how it helped me in my studies and why it was selected by the lecturer.
