"This fluent and powerful book demonstrates at the deepest level that early state formation rests on ethnic and linguistic homogenization--and this, together with the presence of civil society alliances that crosscut a territory, allows for successful nation building. Wimmer is a great sociologist at the top of his profession, producing a work of immense sophistication that exhibits all his gifts."--John A. Hall, McGill University

"Wimmer stands among the most solid and convincing of macrocomparative researchers, and he is as close to the ideal of an impartial social scientist as one can find. His theories of nation building are a revelation."--Randall Collins, University of Pennsylvania