The migration of peoples has been a critical motor of change throughout human history. This book contains 50 epic accounts of the mass movement of peoples. It describes the migration itself, and examines in detail its causes, and its short and long-term consequences.

From the movement of homo erectus out of Africa one million years ago to the Aboriginal settlement of Australia around 50,000 BC; and from the barbarian invasions of early medieval Europe to the diaspora of African slaves in the early modern period, the migration of peoples has been a critical motor of change throughout human history. "The Wanderers" brings together 50 epic accounts of the mass movement of peoples. Each account not only describes the migration itself, but also examines in detail its causes, and its short and long-term consequences. The Wanderers tells a multiplicity of stories - of the discovery of new worlds, of flight from persecution, of nation-building, of colonization, and of human courage and resourcefulness. Most of all, it tells the enthralling and multifaceted story of the human race itself.Migrations covered include: the long walk out of Eden; the spread of early humans; the medieval German 'Drive to the East'; the first Americans; the Spanish in the New World; the Phoenicians and the foundation of Carthage; the Portuguese in Brazil; the Celtic migrations; the Plantations in Ireland; the Greek colonization of the Mediterranean; the English in the New World; the Jewish diaspora; slave migrants; the African Diaspora; the Huns and the Age of Migrations; Irish migrants in the 19th century; The Vandals; Italian migration to America; The Anglo-Saxon migrations; Goldrush to California; The Arab expansion; Back to Israel; the Viking Atlantic saga; the forgotten aftermath of WWII; the Turks: from central Asia to Constantinople; and migrations in the age of globalisation.

IntroductionMigrations in HistoryOut of Africa - 1.9million-15,000 yearsThe First Seafarers - c50,000 years agoThe First Americans - c15,000 years agoThe Indo-Europeans - c3500-1500BCThe Exodus - c1200BCThe Sea Peoples - c1200BCThe Phoenicians - 9th-7th Centuries BCThe Celts - c600BC-279BCGreek Colonization of the Mediterranean - c1450BC-500BCThe Bantu Migrations - c2500BC-AD1000Masters of the Steppes - 1200BC-AD370In the Wake of Alexander the Great - 336BC-323BCThe Cimbri and Teutones - c120BC-101BCRoman Colonialism - 499BC-AD14The Jewish Diaspora - 721BC-AD1948The Huns - AD48-454The Goths - 376-493The Vandal Migrations - c390-439The Anglo-Saxon Migrations to Britain - 5th Century ADThe Arab Expansion - 632-713Vikings in the West - 793-1000The Swedes and the Origins of Russia - c650-c965The Magyars - 896-955Pioneers of the Pacific - 2000BC-AD1000The Normans - 1017-1099The Turks - 552-1095The Medieval German Drive to the East - 10th-15th CenturiesThe Gypsies - 10th-20th CenturiesPeopling the Far North - 2500BC-AD1500The Toltecs and Aztecs - c800-1325For God and Gold: the Spanish and the Americas - 1492-c1800The Portuguese Colonies - 1418-1580The Plantations - 1532-1653Profit and Puritanism: the Beginnings of English Colonialism - 1587-1707New France - 1534-1763Russia's Wild East - 1581-1914The Atlantic Slave Trade - c1460-1882Chinese Peasants on the Move - cAD1-2007Transportation to Australia - 1787-1868The Highland Clearances - 1745-1886The Mfecane - 1816-28The Great Trek of the Boers - 1835-40The Trail of Tears - 1830-42Survivors of the Great Famine - 1830-1914The Oregon Trail - 1832-83Indian Migration in the British Empire - 1834-1947Mormons in Search of a Promised Land - 1846-69Gold Rush to California - 1848-53The Armenian Diaspora - 582-1922Back to Israel - 1881-2007The Second World War and its Aftermath - 1939-1972The World on the MoveIndexFurther Reading and Picture Credits