"Fatherlands is an original study of the nature of identity in nineteenth-century Germany, which has crucial implications for the understanding of nationalism, German unification and the German nation state in the modern era. " "The book approaches these questions from a new and important angle, that of the non-national territorial state. It explores the nature and impact of state-building in non-Prussian Germany. The issues covered range from railway construction and German industrialisation, to the modernisation of German monarchy, the emergence of a free press, the development of a modern educational system, and the role of monuments, museums and public festivities. " "Fatherlands draws principally on extensive primary research focusing on the three kingdoms of Hanover, Saxony and Wurttemberg. It is an attempt to 'join up the dots' of German history - moving beyond isolated local, regional and state-based studies to a general understanding of the state formation process in Germany"--Jacket.