Ludger Mees completed his PhD in History at the University of Bielefeld, Germany and was Assistant Professor at the same institution before taking up a lectureship at the University of the Basque Country, Bilbao in 1991. Since 2004 he has been Professor of Contemporary History at the University of the Basque Country and between 2004 and 2009 he was also Vice-Chancellor. He is author, co-author or editor of 19 books and about 120 articles and book chapters in the fields of nationalism, social movements, historiography and agrarian history.