In recent years there has been a flood of books on nationalism and contemporary politics, many predicting the end of the nation-state. The theme of this book is of the struggle between nationalism and internationalism during the past two centuries, but the vision presented is that of a 'tragic pessimist'. Nationalism is a primordial (though modern) attachment, capable of eliciting the best and worst in human beings. It has seen off its internationalist challengers, dynastic and ideological, and it is likely to be the dominant force in the coming century. This emphasis on the primordial quality of nationalism, the purple-­prosed title and the journalistic background of the author (a contributor for The New Yorker, in which some of this material first appeared) might suggest yet another throw-away analysis. This would be quite wrong. Although William Pfaff's style is discursive rather than tightly argumenta­tive, this is a reflective and vividly written survey, notable for its comprehensiveness and wide-ranging historical grasp. The book is in nine chapters. The first three introduce the theme and the concepts. The remainder discuss nationalism in Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, the USA, and the tensions between nationalism and liberal internationalism (the UN and the EC), finishing with a qualified defence of nationalism.