{"product_id":"out-of-chaos-jon-wilson-9781541701625","title":"Out of Chaos: How the Nation State Emerged from the Ruins of World War II","description":"\u003cb\u003eA provocative history of how nation states arose out of the ashes of World War II, showing how catastrophe, compromise, and contested visions forged the fragile order we still live in today\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Nation states--self-contained territories with their own economy, population, and culture--dominate today's world. Nationalists claim the modern nation state is rooted in deep historical time, while many scholars say it was a nineteenth-century creation. In \u003ci\u003eOut of Chaos\u003c\/i\u003e, historian Jon Wilson challenges these narratives, arguing instead that the nation state emerged suddenly and unexpectedly in the years following World War II and brought order to a world in crisis. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Wilson traces how political leaders still reeling from the chaos of war debated how to partition the people, land, and economies of the world. The nation state emerged as the only form of organization leaders from different ideological positions--communist and capitalist, former colonizer and former colonized--could agree upon. But this new order never fully displaced other ways of imagining political power. From separatist movements in Nigeria and Indonesia, to apologists for empire, to human rights activists fighting for universal justice, non-national groups continued to challenge the nation state's authority. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eOut of Chaos\u003c\/i\u003e restores the history of the nation state, revealing it as a recent and contested construction that has ordered global society for the past seventy-five years and will continue to shape geopolitics in the future.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jon Wilson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1541701623\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781541701625\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Basic Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 432\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.50h x 6.25w x 1.17d","brand":"Jon Wilson","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48443107934463,"sku":"9781541701625","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_36ffe060-5c98-421e-98de-c24a2d871fc5.jpg?v=1777201898","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/out-of-chaos-jon-wilson-9781541701625","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}