Ludger Mees completed his PhD in History at the University of Bielefeld, Germany and was Assistant Professor at the same institution before taking up a lectureship at the University of the Basque Country, Bilbao in 1991. Since 2004 he has been Professor of Contemporary History at the University of the Basque Country and between 2004 and 2009 he was also Vice-Chancellor. He is author, co-author or editor of 19 books and about 120 articles and book chapters in the fields of nationalism, social movements, historiography and agrarian history.

• List of FiguresAcknowledgements Introduction: Retrieving the pirates The context: Problems of state and nation building in France and Spain Basque particularism: The process of ethnogenesis from the 17th to the 19th centuries The claim for sovereignty: The evolution of Basque nationalism until the Civil War (1895-1939) Between resistance and accommodation: The Basque contention during Francoism (1939-75) Transition to democracy: Regional autonomy or independence? (1975-80) The shape of autonomy and the problem of political violence (1980-95) The radical decade (1995-2005) From violence to politics: Nationalism and the end of ETA (2006-18)Epilogue

Select Guide Rating