This is a book that represents an important challenge to the orthodox conceptions of nationalism and that specially focuses on the criticism of the nationalism of the nation-states. Whereas the traditional theory has concentrated in the extreme expressions of nationalism, the author pays attention in the daily and less visible forms which are profoundly deep-rooted in the contemporary conscience; a form of nationalism, neither exotic nor far from the most habitual practices, which is defined as «banal nationalism». Regarding the question of why people do not forget their national identity, he suggests that the daily nationalism is constantly present in the media through symbols and ordinary habits of the language. Habitual elements, such as the flag that waves unnoticed in the outside of a building or that is omnipresent in schools, offices, the fronts of the houses, and so on, are reminders that frequently work mechanically over the individual and collective subconscious, beyond the stadium of the deliberate conscience. Banal Nationalism is critical with the orthodox theories of sociology, politics and social psychology that ignored this key feature of the national identity. Billig states with conviction and documentation that nationalism is still being an essential ideological force in the contemporary world. What is more important is to recognise these signs of nationalism that are so familiar to us and that we overlook so easily. It is a work that includes many outlooks of study and that is a fundamental reading to find out the national phenomenon and its more banal aspects where is manifest and is used, first, by the nation-states.