The book traces the evolution of Armenia and Armenian collective identity, in the homeland and in the diaspora, from its beginnings to the eve of the Armenian nationalist movement over Gharabagh in 1988. The emphasis is on the modern era - the seventeenth century onwards, including the Soviet period. Panossian's overall approach is that of interpretive political and cultural history, centred around theories of national identity formation and nationalism. The cultural identity of the Armenian people - expressed in their art, literature, religious practice and even commerce - played a vital role in preserving national memory, and forms an important component of this study, as does the author's analysis of the Armenian Genocide in 1915.