'Kurds and Identity Politics', by one of the world's leading specialists in this field is based on exhaustive fieldwork and research. Van Bruinessen's immense expertise allows him to take a broad view, exploring the issues from historical, linguistic and anthropological angles. He sets out the historic struggle of the Kurds and the formation of Kurdish identity in Turkey, Iran and Iraq, and explains it within the context of their global diaspora. He shows that even without an independent Kurdish state - Kurdistan - measures of Kurdish self-government are possible based on a broad understanding of what Kurdish nationhood means. A study of Kurdish identity and ethnicity that sets out the historic struggle of the Kurds in Turkey, Iran and Iraq, and shows that even without an independent Kurdish state (Kurdistan) measures of Kurish self-government are possible, based on a broad understanding of what Kurdish nationhood means.