Understanding the forces involved in the nationalist struggles in the modern world is the aim of this book. Blaut takes issue with theorists, non-Marxists and Marxists, alike- who conceive of nationalism either as some kind of autonomous force in society, or as representing only the interest of a new bourgeois class trying to take control of the state. Instead, he shows how national struggles have been waged by different classes in different epochs, both exploited and exploiting groups.