The siren call of separatism

Scots and Catalans: Union and Disunion. By J.H. Elliott.Yale University Press; 360 pages; £20. To be published in America in August; $30.

NOWHERE was the referendum on Scotland’s independence in 2014 followed more closely than in Catalonia. And few people have offered more solidarity than the Scots to the separatist Catalan politicians who face jail and extradition for their illegal declaration of independence from Spain last year. Both territories have long been integral elements of larger states. But both are also self-proclaimed nations with a sense that their history and culture are distinct. In the 21st century, in an age of uncertainty over identities prompted by globalisation, assertive nationalists have taken power in both places and sought to break away from the advanced European democracies of which they form part.