“Certainly,a kaleidoscopic range of "Scottish communities abroad" have been interpreted here, as they should be, within multi-national, multi-ethnic settings. Sociological models are employed effectively by the editors (pp.2-3, 22), who acknowledge that community members could be "atypical of the place where they come from," besides there being cases where Scottish emigration did not lead to the establishment of a Scottish community (p.20). Such humility shows the degree of thoughtfulness that went into the volume, the fruits of long and arduous work, which will surely inspire others to research further in the field.”
David Worthington, H-Net Atlantic, March 2006.

Migration is a fundamental feature of human experience. This extraordinary collection of essays focuses on a particularly intriguing sequence of migrations: those of Scots during the period 1600-1800. The book first considers the “near-abroad” (Ireland), the “middle-abroad” (Poland and Lithuania), and the “far-abroad” (the Americas), and then details a number of acutely revealing case histories of Scottish communities in Bergen (Norway), Rotterdam and the Maas (the Netherlands), Gothenburg (Sweden), Kèdainiai (Lithuania), and Hamburg (Germany). Then, concentrating on the Netherlands, the focus shifts to specific cultural/occupational milieux: exiles (usually for religious reasons), students, and soldiers or sailors. In conclusion, three leading scholars—Lex Heerma van Voss, Sølvi Søgner, and Thomas O’Connor—offer wider contextual perspectives that compare the Scottish experience with that of other countries. As Professor T.C. Smout says in his Foreword, “The present volume is a breakthrough, surely the biggest advance in the field for a hundred years.”