Professor of History at the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University Prague. From 1993 to 2000 head of the Seminar of General and Comparative History at the Faculty of Philosophy. He has published on the comparative history of modern Europe; nation formation, trade and politics in the 17th century; and the role of historical “memory”. Recent books: In the National Interest. Demands and Goals of European National Movements (2000), Social Preconditions of National Revival in Europe (2nd ed. 2000), La naturalesa de la nació (2001), Das Europa der Nationen (2005), Comparative Studies in Modern European History: Nation, Nationalism, Social Change (2007).