Govers and Vermeulen\u27s book seems to be a timely one, considering the resurgence of inter-ethnic strife that is causing so much misery in many parts of the world, especially since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war. The book, however, is not an expose on the politics of ethnic consciousness. Rather, it is a collection of case studies that address certain aspects of ethnic consciousness. Govers and Vermeulen provide the theoretical context for these studies in the introductory first chapter of the book. Indeed, the book can be usefully divided into two main parts, with the first chapter constituting one part and the rest of the chapters constituting the other
