A superb book. Fluidly written and clearly argued, this volume makes an invaluable contribution to a growing literature on nationalism, politics in interwar Czechoslovakia and the transformations that rocked the Bohemian lands in last century’s two great wars. It casts new light on age-old issues concerning national identity that, no doubt, will continue to attract the attention of historians of Europe for many years to come. It is a book, in other words, that deserves a wide audience and the highest praise.

Noble Nationalists adds a great deal to our understanding of the balance between competing popular and dynastic political forces in the Austrian half of the Dual Monarchy. It has much to contribute to ongoing debates about the nature and mechanics of nationalism and nation building in Habsburg Central Europe. Glassheim suggests the many ways in which elite actors attempted to recapture the imagined security of the pre-1918 world while taking into account the demands of a populist (if not democratic), nationalized age of mass politics.

With its focus on a neglected social group, the Bohemian nobility, Noble Nationalists makes an important contribution to the fields of Habsburg, German, and Eastern European history as well as to interdisciplinary nationalism studies. Eagle Glassheim intertwines political and social history in an engaging manner as he demonstrates the persistence of multiple—sometimes conflicting, sometimes overlapping—identities.