Tracing the historical roots and contemporary manifestations of ethnic conflict in Assam in India's northeast, this book provides a rigorous and intensive analysis of the nationalist politics of the state, with implications for conflict and separatism as well as prospects for peace and reconciliation. 'Informed by deep ethnographic knowledge and a thorough understanding of intergroup and intragroup relations in the region, this exceedingly carefully researched book on ethnic politics and conflict in Assam is a most sophisticated treatment of the forces that animate conflict and separatism as well as prospects for peace. For anyone interested in ethnicity in India's northeast, this is an incisive, invaluable resource.' - Donald L. Horowitz, James B. Duke Professor of Law and Political Science, Duke University