Based on a wealth of primary source material, this meticulous study was compiled by George Pratt Insh, the well-respected Scottish scholar and historian, in the early 1920's. He treats each colonial venture in a separate chapter, providing details and commentary formed from a lifetime of study into the motivations and aspirations of those men and women who sailed across the ocean in search of riches, prestige, or a more secure life. Drawing frequently from obscure source material now lost or unobtainable, this work has often been quoted as a source within itself, given Insh's obvious scholarship and attention to detail. His unique and warm style, as fresh now as when it was written, makes this book a delight to read for any historian, genealogist or general reader. In addition, the substantial appendices contain numerous transcriptions of governmental communication, and more interestingly, letters from settlers to their relatives back home.