On the Nation and the Jewish People

Ernest Renan was one of the intellectual giants of the second half of thenineteenth century in France, the man who first opened up the study ofnationalism. In this book, Shlomo Sand, the author of the best-selling TheInvention of the Jewish People, demonstrates the complexity of Renan#x19;sthought. Sand shows the relationship of Renan#x19;s work to that of key twentieth-centurythinkers on nationalism, such as Raymond Aron and Ernest Gellner,and argues for the continued importance of studying Renan. Alongside his essay, Sand presents two classic lectures by Renan: the first, therenowned #x1C;What Is a Nation?#x1D;, argues that nations are not based upon race,religion, and language; in the second he uses historical evidence to show thatthe Jews cannot be considered a #x1C;pure ethnos.#x1D; On the Nation and the JewishPeople is an important contribution to the understanding of nationalism,bringing back into play the work of a profoundly misunderstood thinker.

Shlomo Sand studied history at the University of Tel Aviv and at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales, in Paris. He currently teaches contemporary history at the University of Tel Aviv. His books include The Invention of the Jewish People, On the Nation and the Jewish People, L’Illusion du politique: Georges Sorel et le débat intellectuel 1900, Georges Sorel en son temps, Le XXe siècle à l’écran and Les Mots et la terre: les intellectuels en Israël.

Ernest Renan (1823–1892) was a French philosopher and writer.