'Gellner mastered an enviable range of topics and only a commentator of the quality of Michael Lessnoff would be able to draw them together in this way' 'Lessnof brings to Gellner's work the synthesis it requires' 'Gellner's work is extraordinarily challenging and only very few people could make it accessible in the way Lessnoff proposes' 'This is the first book-length treatment of the work of Ernest Gellner. It is beautifully written, essentially accurate, covers the full range of the great polymath's thought, and offers very interesting judgements of its own.' (Political Studies Review Vol. 1 No. 1 Jan. 2003)