Anthony Smith is a crisp explainer. The nature and purpose of his project is crystal clear ... He proves a level-headed chaperone for the minitature grand tour that is The Nation Made Real, equally at home in history and destiny, community and territory, landscape and ethnoscape ...
Alex Danchev, Times Higher Education
Anthony Smith, the doyen of Anglophone historians of nationalism (he has published at least twenty books with 'nation' or its cognates in the title) has brought his formidable learning to bear on the subject [of nationalist paintings] The Nation Made Real is a well-written, stimulating and rewarding study that can be warmly recommended to anyone interested in the history of nationalism in the period.
Literary Review
The Nation Made Real will be useful to students beyond the humanities and encourage them to take art seriously as a source, inviting them to delve deeper into the pictorial range and complications of the subject, and the rewards of primary research. At the same time, its sociological schema merit the critical attention of historical scholars too.
Stephen Daniels, American Historical Review
a good overview, by one of the leading specialists on nationalism... it will be a useful introduction for those who are new to this domain, such as undergraduate students from the field of art history, visual studies, history and nationalism studies.
Eric Storm, English Historical Review