[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 ... Read morefor 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 Show Less