Catherine the Great recruited thousands of colonists "to populate her lower Volga River frontier with dependable permanent settlers who not only would bring stability to this lawless underdeveloped & uncharted region but also would reclaim the vast wasteland there"-an area larger than the state of Maryland This recruitment program ended in 1766 after drawing a majority of the colonists (about 30000) from west central Germany particularly the Hessian states Since 1874 many inhabitants of this overpopulated land island between Saratov & Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) have emigrated to the Western world-to homesteads from the plains of western Canada to the pampas of Argentina but chiefly in the US By 1920 more than 300000 Volga Germans were counted in the US mostly in the private states but including 24000 in the East & 30000 on the West Coast Meanwhile the number of German-derived residents of the Soviet Union exceeded two million-the original Evangelical & Roman Catholic settlers having flourished despite adversity & having been joined by Mennonites in 1854 The author paints a vivid picture of the pioneering activities of the Germans on the Volga meeting the challenges of a hostile environment & raids by brigands & keeping their culture alive through an elaborate system of parochial schools A century ago population pressure forced many Volga Germans westward to the Americas or eastward to Turkestan & Siberia somewhat later Although Lenin established a Volga German Autonomous Republic Stalin abolished it in 1941 during the Nazi invasion & deported its population to Siberia & Central Asia A 1964 Soviet decree retracted wholesale charges of disloyalty against the Volga Germans but denied restoration of their Republic The story of the Volga Germans & their adventures in North & South America from 1874 to the present is a warm & vibrant one Both laymen & scholars will find it rewarding