What Is a Nation? Text of a Lecture Delivered at the Sorbonne on 11 March 1882

by Ernest Renan, Nathalie Krikorian-Duronsoy (other), Ethan Rundell (translator)

60 pages, Paperback

Published August 9, 2024

About the author

Joseph Ernest Renan was a French expert of Middle East ancient languages and civilizations (philology), philosopher, historian, and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany. He is best known for his influential historical works on early Christianity, and his political theories, especially concerning nationalism and national identity. Renan is credited as being among the first scholars to advance the Khazar theory, which held that Ashkenazi Jews were descendants of Turkic peoples who had adopted Jewish religion and migrated to Western Europe following the collapse of their khanate.

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the speech, it echoed my own descriptive Machiavellian observations of power, and felt very rooted in the period, despite be prescient. Not a lot new, but it would have been a banger in the 1880s.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant