Boundaries: The Making of France and Spain in the Pyrenees [Paperback]

Peter Sahlins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0520074157 | ISBN-13: 978-0520074156

"Brilliant. . . . This fascinating exploration through three centuries of the frontier is rounded off with a perceptive and balanced appraisal of the nature of national identity within the context of the Pyrenees. . . . A study which is exciting, learned, and thought-provoking, a splendid example of interdisciplinary history at its best."--Times Literary Supplement

Editorial Reviews

Review

Brilliant. . . . This fascinating exploration through three centuries of the frontier is rounded off with a perceptive and balanced appraisal of the nature of national identity within the context of the Pyrenees. . . . A study which is exciting, learned, and thought-provoking, a splendid example of interdisciplinary history at its best. -- Times Literary Supplement

Product Details

• Paperback: 372 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (March 19, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520074157
• ISBN-13: 978-0520074156
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #531,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating study of territories and national identities, July 12, 2000

By 

J. Hart (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boundaries: The Making of France and Spain in the Pyrenees (Paperback)

The Pyrenees boundary between France and Spain began in 1659 as a pretty arbitrary line, but over the course of the next two centuries it was worked out as a national border locally. Sahlins studied the Cerdanya, a valley in the Pyrenees split between France and Spain, and shows how localism formed national identities that were necessary for delineating the boundary.

According to Sahlins, the changes that took place to form the France/Spain boundary were not only a formation of national identity, but also a change in the governments' views of sovereignty, moving from an idea of jurisdiction and dominion over subjects, to territorial control. He shows how policy in the Cerdanya reflected this change from jurisdiction to territory, the change from frontier land to a true boundary.

Sahlins' book is a fascinating look at what makes a nation, and a microcosmic study of the formation of the modern nation-state. His study of the Cerdanya gives the book insights, not just into governmental state-building, but also the construction of identity, the necessity of boundaries for people to define themselves in opposition to the other.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genious in a nutshell, March 29, 2005

By 

Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem, Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boundaries: The Making of France and Spain in the Pyrenees (Paperback)

This book is pure genious, focusing on the important issue of nations, identity and borders, specifically the Franco-Spanish border as it was deliniated from the 17th century onward. This is a fascinating account. Most would say that the pyrennes offer an ideal border and they would be correct, but how the nations were able to imprint national idenitities on the clannish localities of the mountains is fascinating reading on a subject most of us would never deighn to think important. A fun and important account, fascinating, ingenious and one of a kind in its originality.

Seth J. Frantzman