Jeff Kingston is professor of history and director of Asian studies at Temple University Japan. He is the author of Nationalism in Asia: A History since 1945 and editor of Asian Nationalisms Reconsidered along with several books on Japan.

Kingston's wide-ranging study of religious nationalism across Asia is a welcome addition to the growing body of scholarship that probes the intersection of religion and politics, especially the impact of ethnoreligious nationalism on domestic minority groups. Kingston (history and Asian studies, Temple Univ. Japan) provides a very nice introduction to key concepts such as religion, identity, and nationalism, and follows that with ten chapters devoted to specific cases and sites. He moves seamlessly across a wide spectrum of religious traditions and Asian nations, for each providing a trove of information and in-depth analysis. Kington's accessible narrative style and sustained argument across the chapters do credit to his thesis that ethnoreligious nationalism, or as he puts it "malevolent majoritarianism" (p. 15), is a grave problem that affects all the states in which these impulses and actors thrive. Some readers may be tempted to focus on a single case or site, but this would be a pity because the core problem that Kingston uncovers persists and is so important, not least because it is so widespread across Asian states and societies.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

• Map of Asia 1 Introduction2 Hinduism and Hindutva3 Christianity in Asia4 Arabization and Islam in Asia5 Militant Monks, Abiding Anxieties6 Rohingya: Race, Religion, and Ethnonationalism7 Islamic Minorities in Asia8 Politicizing Blasphemy9 Contesting Sexuality10 ConclusionGlossarySuggested Further ReadingBibliographyIndexAbout the Author

Jeff Kingston is professor of history and director of Asian studies at Temple University Japan. He is the author of Nationalism in Asia: A History since 1945 and editor of Asian Nationalisms Reconsidered along with several books on Japan.

Kingston's wide-ranging study of religious nationalism across Asia is a welcome addition to the growing body of scholarship that probes the intersection of religion and politics, especially the impact of ethnoreligious nationalism on domestic minority groups. Kingston (history and Asian studies, Temple Univ. Japan) provides a very nice introduction to key concepts such as religion, identity, and nationalism, and follows that with ten chapters devoted to specific cases and sites. He moves seamlessly across a wide spectrum of religious traditions and Asian nations, for each providing a trove of information and in-depth analysis. Kington's accessible narrative style and sustained argument across the chapters do credit to his thesis that ethnoreligious nationalism, or as he puts it "malevolent majoritarianism" (p. 15), is a grave problem that affects all the states in which these impulses and actors thrive. Some readers may be tempted to focus on a single case or site, but this would be a pity because the core problem that Kingston uncovers persists and is so important, not least because it is so widespread across Asian states and societies.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

• Map of Asia 1 Introduction2 Hinduism and Hindutva3 Christianity in Asia4 Arabization and Islam in Asia5 Militant Monks, Abiding Anxieties6 Rohingya: Race, Religion, and Ethnonationalism7 Islamic Minorities in Asia8 Politicizing Blasphemy9 Contesting Sexuality10 ConclusionGlossarySuggested Further ReadingBibliographyIndexAbout the Author

Jeff Kingston is professor of history and director of Asian studies at Temple University Japan. He is the author of Nationalism in Asia: A History since 1945 and editor of Asian Nationalisms Reconsidered along with several books on Japan.

Kingston's wide-ranging study of religious nationalism across Asia is a welcome addition to the growing body of scholarship that probes the intersection of religion and politics, especially the impact of ethnoreligious nationalism on domestic minority groups. Kingston (history and Asian studies, Temple Univ. Japan) provides a very nice introduction to key concepts such as religion, identity, and nationalism, and follows that with ten chapters devoted to specific cases and sites. He moves seamlessly across a wide spectrum of religious traditions and Asian nations, for each providing a trove of information and in-depth analysis. Kington's accessible narrative style and sustained argument across the chapters do credit to his thesis that ethnoreligious nationalism, or as he puts it "malevolent majoritarianism" (p. 15), is a grave problem that affects all the states in which these impulses and actors thrive. Some readers may be tempted to focus on a single case or site, but this would be a pity because the core problem that Kingston uncovers persists and is so important, not least because it is so widespread across Asian states and societies.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

• Map of Asia 1 Introduction2 Hinduism and Hindutva3 Christianity in Asia4 Arabization and Islam in Asia5 Militant Monks, Abiding Anxieties6 Rohingya: Race, Religion, and Ethnonationalism7 Islamic Minorities in Asia8 Politicizing Blasphemy9 Contesting Sexuality10 ConclusionGlossarySuggested Further ReadingBibliographyIndexAbout the Author