[This booka s thesis] is argued in a cogent, driving style and with tireless attention to the realities of modern life. Times Literary Supplement Smith has much to say and he makes his key points in a forceful and clear manner ... Smitha s analysis has the value that it helps to highlight a number of the reasons for the vitality of nationalism and to raise questions which require further research and analysis. International Affairs An even--handed and dispassionate discussion. Anthony Smith is the foremost scholar of nationalism in this country, and in this relatively short book he distils a considerable quantity of his formidable theoretical and historical knowledge of the phenomenon. Whatever onea s attitude to nationalism, one is likely to find much to engage onea s interest here. Smitha s book is both a spirited rendering of a position, and a splendid stimulus to thought, in both domains. Sociology Timely, for globalisation puts in question the functionality, pervasiveness and moral claims of the principle of nationality. Times Higher Educational Supplement Smitha s book is a timely review of important developments which have taken place in the 1990s and the scholarship which has attempted to explain them. It is a welcome addition to the literature. International Journal of Cultural Studies
