This book is recognized as a classic study both of the politics of language and religion in India and of ethnic and nationalist movements in general. It received overwhelmingly favorable reviews across disciplinary and international boundaries at first publication, characterized as "a masterly conceptual analysis of language, religion, ethnic groups, and nationhood," "a monumental work," "of interest to all political scientists," one that "should be required reading for any politically concerned person" in the United Kingdom (from a TLS review), a work whose "value and importance...can scarcely be overstated," with "no competitor in the same class."

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