Hagen Schulze was born in Tangiers, Morocco in 1943. He was until recently Professor of Modern History and Head of Department at the Institute for History at the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich. He is currently Professor of Modern German and European History at the Free University in Berlin. He has written several books on the Weimar Republic, on Prussian history and on German and European nationalism (most recent English translation: The Course of German Nationalism, From Frederick the Great to Bismarck, 1763-1867,1991) as well as numerous articles on German and European cultural and political history from the 18th to the 20th centuries.

"Schulze's book is clearly aimed at a wide readership and is likely to be used widely in undergraduate courses on European history." History "Schulze demonstrates a high level of competence in tracing the growth of the nation and the state from the time of Charlemagne to the reign of Napoleon. But it is in his account of that point in the early 19th century when the nation and state fuse that his book achieves brilliance." Choice

• Preface. Series Editor's Preface.Part I: States:.1. The Advent of the Modern State.2. Christianity and Reasons of State.3. Leviathan.4. The Constitutional State and the Rule of Law.Part II: Nations:.5. The 'Nation' is not just any Nation.6. Nation States and National Cultures.7. The Pivotal Period.8. The Invention of the 'Folk Nation'.9. The Folk Nations in Reality.Part III: Nation States:.10. The Revolutionary Nation State (1815-1871).11. The Imperial Nation State (1871-1914).12. The Total Nation State (1914-1945).Part IV: Nations, States and Europe:.13. Nations, States and Europe.Notes.Bibliography.Index of Names.