'... a worthy contribution to the scholarly literature on nationalism ... The particularly noteworthy and worthwhile aspect of Hirschi's definition of the nation is its focus on the multipolarity of nationality in contrast to the bipolarity of empire ... There is much to commend in this analysis of the emergence of a multicentric discourse of nationality ... Hirschi's admirable focus on the humanists and events of the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries clearly supports his argument that nationality is not exclusively modern. He is right.' Steven Grosby, Reviews in History (history.ac.uk/reviews)