The rise of ethnic and religious conflicts in the post-Cold War era has reawakened consideration of the future of nationalism and the nation state. The Indian subcontinent with its myriad ethnic, religious and linguistic divides provides a focus for examination of the interplay between nationalism, religion and ethnicity. The region's growing violence and instability is in part a result of this process, sharpened by social inequalities and the struggle to control scarce resources.

'India and Pakistan' provides an historical understanding of the chequered process of nation-building in the subcontinent. In particular, Talbot examines the role of 'parochial' allegiances and the impact of contemporary processes of economic and cultural globalisation on nationalist and localist allegiances. And, in introducing the increasingly important role of overseas South Asian communities in the political mobilization of the homeland, the student is shown the complexities of South Asian society and the effects of its relationship with the state on the process of nation-building in India and Pakistan.