AN EVENING STANDARD NO 1 BESTSELLER' Marvellously engaging' THE TIMES' Brisk informative & eye-opening' DAILY TELEGRAPHDuring the course of the seventeenth century nearly 400000 people left Britain for the Americas most of them from England Crossing the Atlantic was a major undertaking the voyage long & treacherous There was little hope of returning to see the friends & family who stayed behind Why did so many go? A significant number went for religious reasons either on the Mayflower or as part of the mass migration to New England; some sought their fortunes in gold fish or fur; some went to farm tobacco in Virginia a booming trade which would enmesh Europe in a new addiction Some went because they were loyal to the deposed Stuart king while others yearned for an entirely new ambition
- the freedom to think as they chose Then there were the desperate starving & impoverished people who went because things had not worked out in the Old World & there was little to lose from trying again in the New EMIGRANTS casts light on this unprecedented population shift
- a phenomenon that underpins the rise of modern America Using contemporary sources including diaries court hearings & letters James Evans brings to light the extraordinary personal stories of the men & women who made the journey of a lifetime