Originally published in 1929, the author begins the discussion of nationality by a survey of its main factors – race, language, religion, the homeland, tradition, literature and the will to live together. With the discovery that racial purity is a myth, race in its biological sense loses much of its significance, though racial self-consciousness remains virtually unaffected. The second half of the volume studies the historical origins of nationality and its world-wide ramifications. The nationalities of Europe are briefly surveyed in a single chapter, while the British Empire, India, the Jews and the Americans, have chapters to themselves. The study of Asia is completed by an additional chapter on National Groups of the East. Towards the end of the volume the author returns to the discussion of the meaning of nationality, defines its relation to the state, Patriotism, Internationalism and war, and sums up its merits and its defects.
This book is a re-issue originally published in 1929. The language used and assumptions made are a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.