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This week's Final Word comes from a man whose name is to Irving as Karl is to Groucho.

"The brutal and destructive side of modern nationalism needs no stressing in a world torn by its excesses. Yet it must be recognised for what it is - a world-wide response to a profound and natural need on the part of newly liberated slaves -'the decolonised' - a phenomenon unpredicted in the Europe-centred society of the nineteenth century. How did the possibility of this development come to be ignored? To this question I volunteer no answer."

Entries should be submitted to Final Word, The THES, Admiral House, 66-68 East Smithfield, London E1 9XY, faxed to 0171-782 3300 or emailed to theschat@thes.co.uk. The winner receives a Pounds 20 book token and the closing date is October 8. The winner of last week's competition, who correctly identified James Gleick's Chaos, is Philip Duce of Shropshire.