A recent coinage within international relations, "nation branding" designates the process of highlighting a country's positive characteristics for promotional purposes, using techniques similar to those employed in marketing and public relations. Nation Branding in Modern History takes an innovative approach to illuminating this contested concept, drawing on fascinating case studies in the United States, China, Poland, Suriname, and many other countries, from the nineteenth century to the present. It supplements these empirical contributions with a series of historiographical essays and analyses of key primary documents, making for a rich and multivalent investigation into the nexus of cultural marketing, self-representation, and political power.

New theme: nation branding and history New approach: introduces a new way of thinking about nation self-projection in the international arena Comparison: a comparative book on the history of nation branding – there is none to date Intercontinental approach: that comparison reaches across several continents, including North and South America, Europe, Asia Interdisciplinary: historical analysis joined by expertise of media/communication scholars, political scientists Past and Present: connects present discourses on the nation’s performance/representation with analysis of the past

"Reading this collection feels like one is at a workshop in which by the end of the day (in this case the end of the book) participants had worked together to gain a better understanding of the field and raised a host of new questions and concerns." ? Journal of Modern History

"With a particularly impressive range of case studies that include Eastern and non-European case studies, the contributors to this volume bring to light new and hitherto unexplored episodes in the history of cultural diplomacy and nation branding, all supported by a wealth of empirical detail." ? Egle Rindzeviciute, Kingston University