Zake (sociology, Rowan U.) examines the political ideas of Latvian nationalist intellectuals, beginning with the emergence of Latvian nationalism in the 19th century and ending with the early 1980s. The goal is to examine the evolution of their political ideas and motivations through their experiences as a class. He explores how their nationalism frequently expressed itself as cultural nationalism that equated politics with the struggle for an ethnic group's cultural survival and also how the reverence for the nation was often transformed into an anti-democratic authoritarianism. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)