Migrants: The Story of Us All

by Sam Miller

Migrants cuts through the toxic debates to tell the rich and collective stories of humankind’s urge to move.

Humans are, in fundamental ways, a migratory species, more so than any other land mammal. For most of our existence , we were all nomads, and some of us still are. Houses and permanent settlements are a relatively late development - dating back little more than twelve thousand years. Borders and passports are much more recent. From the Neanderthals, Alexander the Great, Christopher Columbus and Pocahontas to the African slave trade, Fu Manchu, and Barack Obama, Migrants shows us that it is only by understanding how migration and migrants have been viewed in the past, that we can re-set the terms of the modern-day debate about migration.

Migrants presents us with an alternative history of the world, in which migration is restored to the heart of the human story. And in which humans migrate for a wide range of reasons: not just because of civil war, or poverty or climate change but also out of curiosity and a sense of adventure. On arrival, migrants are expected both to assimilate and encouraged to remain distinctive; to defend their heritage and adopt a new one. They are sub-human and super-human; romanticised and castigated, admired and abhorred. Migrants tells us that this is not a new narrative; this is the history of us all, part of everybody’s backstory - for those who consider themselves migrants and those who do not.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Sociology, Audiobook, Biology

400 pages, Hardcover

Published September 26, 2023

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Sam Miller was born and brought up in London. He studied History at Cambridge University and Politics at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, before joining the BBC in 1986, for which he has worked, on and off, ever since. In the early 1990s he was the BBC World Service TV and radio correspondent in Delhi, and on his return to the UK in 1993 was the presenter of the BBC ’s current affairs programme, South Asia Report. Later he became the head of the Urdu service and subsequently Managing Editor, South Asia. He was posted back to Delhi in 2002 and has remained there ever since. He is the author of Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity (2009) and Blue Guide: India (2012).

Reviews

[Harsh Agrawal]

Uncover the Fascinating History of Human Migration: Migrants: The Story of Us All by Sam Miller

Migrants: The Story of Us All
Author: Sam Miller
Published by Abacus Books Distributed by Hachette India
Genre: History
Pages 440
MRP: Rs. 899/-

Thank you @hachetteindia for a review copy of the book

Migrants: The Story of us all by Sam Miller is an insightful and thought-provoking book that delves into the history of human migration. The author explores the concept of migration from its earliest origins to the present day, highlighting the role it has played in shaping our societies and cultures.
One of the key strengths of this book is the way in which it challenges commonly-held perceptions of migration. Miller demonstrates that migration is not a new phenomenon, but rather an integral part of human history that has been taking place for thousands of years. By exploring the experiences of migrants throughout history, he reveals that many of the debates around migration today are not new, and have in fact been recurring themes throughout history.
Miller's writing is engaging and accessible, making this book suitable for a wide range of readers. He uses a combination of historical research and personal anecdotes to bring the stories of migrants to life, and his passion for the subject shines through on every page.
Miller adopts a value-free approach to the term 'migrant', which encompasses a diverse range of people including colonial adventurers, West African slaves, and Jewish refugee communities. The book is a vast work of synthesis, and Miller's choices of which episodes to highlight are both expected and distinctive, as any panoramic view of history must be. Along the way, Miller dispels some popular myths, such as the idea that the Neanderthals were less intelligent than modern humans.
Miller's writing style is relaxed and engaging, and he adds personal anecdotes to the historical accounts, including his own family history and his quest to understand his own DNA. Despite acknowledging his own privileges, Miller is careful to remind readers that he is also a migrant, but he recognizes that he does not suffer from the same backlash that many other migrants face.

The Authors thoughts on India and the ‘Aryan Migration Theory’
While I personally haven’t read up much on the world history of migration, I can say that I have read about what the author has to say in India’s context. The author does write that the arguments of the Aryan Invasionists and migrationists were pretty flimsy, and even recognises the theories of the two extremes. But then the author gives merit to Tony Joseph and his 2018 work Early Indians which basically claims AIT/AMT. Whereas many historians such as Abhijeet Chawda have debunked Joseph’s book and his so called research. Chawda wrote a rebuttal, arguing that the peer review process is flawed and that it being published in a oeer reviewed journal does not automatically endow a research paper with credibility , Josephs research is based misrepresenting the datings on the expansions. So I would not take this part of the book by Miller too seriously.
Overall, Migrants: The Story of us all is an important and timely book that offers a fresh perspective on the history of migration. It provides valuable insights into the ways in which migration has shaped our world, and challenges readers to reconsider their preconceptions about this complex and often controversial topic. Whether you are a student of history, a migrant yourself, or simply interested in the human experience, this book is well worth reading.

[Jon M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, but I am also very disappointed. I feel it could have been so much better.

I was hoping and expecting a book almost like Sapiens, analysis and thought provoking incites. On the “what ifs” of world history , offering a whole different view of the world, like Sapiens does. Needless to say I was disappointed when i realised this is mainly a description of different migrations.

Albeit some interesting points, but simply not what I hoped for. I was also disappointed on the the chapter which touched on Israel - I was interested to hear this after the author stated his Jewish ancestry. Whilst he went to lengths to tell of the suffering and genocide of the native Americans, he made no such comparisons to the native people of Palestine. Instead telling us how how Aunt “joined a group that fought the arabs” , I wonder would he be so flippant had it emerged his ancestors decided to immigrate somewhere, and promptly took it upon themself to fight the native population? Also made no mention to the waves of Palestinian immigration caused by Israel’s actions.

Overall a 3* book, worth a read, but not one of the greatest I’ve read.

[Fx Smeets · Rating 5 out of 5]

Migrants should actually be called Nomads. Human beings are nomads by nature, is Sam Miller’s daring central hypothesis. At least, some of them are. Is there such a thing as a wanderlust gene? He brushes on the topic, already fairly studied and documented. Current science may be unable to give a definite answer, he says, but his own wanderlust has taken him across the globe and back and shows no sign of abating. For me, he adds, living “somewhere else” is a necessity not dictated by the living conditions in my birth place. It is a frame of mind.

A significant portion of human beings have an atavistic need to move. Nomadic by nature, they have been pinned to a particular location in recent history due to the rise of the nation state, when central powers started capitalising on food surplus. I read this thesis for the first time in Cyprian Broodbank’s The Making Of The Middle Sea. This is not the most commonly accepted opinion. It is generally believed that human beings lived a nomadic life to follow their food supply. Agriculture was so successful, we are explained, because it allowed humans to adopt a settled lifestyle, believed to be safer and more comfortable. The truth is, supporting evidence (archeological for the most part) is scarce and open to interpretation. What is certain is that the settlement of nomadic people is not the evolutionary fatality presented to us by mainstream history. Many people, past and present, have pursued their nomadic lifestyle out of choice – and have been actively hunted and slaughtered by settled central powers, eager to put a stop to these uncontrolled migrations.

Sam Miller’s book goes through what archeology and history flag as the main migratory movements of the past 100,000 years. He is careful to warn his readers about the biases of these disciplines. What they present as a punctual and unidirectional movement of populations often occurred over several decades, centuries even, and saw many back-and-forth. As a journalist, he is aware that history is a (re)tale which builds a tidy narrative off of uncertain and/or chaotic events. Miller also takes the time to question the terms he uses. Migrant, immigrant, emigrant, expatriate: all these words, of equivalent semantic value, have different connotations. These differences are contextual. They depend on the relative situation of the country from where a person is coming and the country to where they are moving. Poor country to rich country: you are a immigrant. Rich country to poor country: you are an emigrant. Rich country to rich country: you are an expat. All of these are migrant workers (migration from poor country to poor country is of no interest to the media and the politics).

For all his care, Miller did not attempt to clarify what, in modern English, differentiates Migrant from Nomad. Words tend to specialise. Migrant may have started as a subcategory of Nomad. The feeling we get from English speakers these days is different. From Cro-Magnon spreading to Northern Africa and Middle East to the Syrian refugees entering Europe, Miller’s history of migrations is a violent one: repression, imprisonment, civil unrest, war, genocide (Neanderthal, for instance). In contrast, Nomad has come to denote a way of travelling which does not seek conflict – perhaps because the Nomad is a wanderer and does not claim any right to settlement. If Miller and Broodbanks’s hypothesis is correct, then we have to admit that the central powers who sell us the myth of nationality have been pretty successful. We are so convinced of our birth right to belong where we were born, or more accurately that the place where we were born belongs to us by natural right, that an increasing proportion of us think that whoever attempts to settle on “our soil” deserves death.

It does not cease to amaze me how quick we are to forget our own history. Our parents, grand-parents, great-grand-parents, or in my case, myself, had to go through the same struggle. My dad’s granddad had to settle in Belgium from his native Holland for what we suppose were financial reasons. My dad’s dad had to move from Belgium to France during the second world war because he and his newly wedded Belgian wife could not afford a farm in Belgium. My mum’s granddad moved from Belgium to France for similar reason and almost died when, in 1914, the German troops came to his door to demand that he give his farm away and enrol in the German workforce. I migrated to the UK in 2000 because… I am not sure why, it probably has to do with the quantity of beer I was allowed to drink in one session here. I stayed because I fell in love. We moved to Singapore for no other reason than curiosity. On the French side I have been accused of deserting the motherland and not repaying the money the French state had invested into me. On the British side I have been accused of stealing jobs and not paying taxes (well, people, British citizens on average tend to evade taxes more that migrant workers). Denying the migrating nature of human beings takes a lot of blindness and self-delusion. Migrating is inherently human and at the same time the least human-specific of our traits. Many animal species migrate. Even plants migrate. Without migration, one could argue that there would be very little evolution.

Nomadism, then, would be the wandering version of Migration. However, basic research shows that the idea of the peaceful nomad is an illusion. What we are seeing today is not so much a denaturation of humanity’s nomadic instinct into a sedentary lifestyle as a complete dominance, a dictatorship, of one lifestyle over another. For, and Sam Miller is absolutely right here, nomads are also persecuted. They have been and are being physically exterminated by political regimes. They are also persecuted in our own minds, their image distorted by the nation-state ideology for which any individual or community who does not abide to a particular national flag is suspect. It is all well and good to condemn the nazi regime for killing half a million Romani and Sinti in six years. But the first persecutions against gipsy population in Germany predate Hitler’s accession to power. The first anti-gipsy law was voted in 1926 by the Weimar republic and came at the back of decades of persecution by the German empire (the first “Information Services on Romani” dates from 1899). In France in 1666, the king Louis XIV (May God keep his putride head) signs a decree saying that “all male Bohemians should be arrested and sent to the galleys without trial”. Reasons for this ostracism and these persecutions are multiple and complex but given what we now know of European culture, I think they can all be safely related to the expression of central power.

And now to Sam Miller’s demonstration and conclusion: in the context of an almost exclusively sedentary humanity, nomadism is an essential human freedom. It should be greeted and given space to express itself. Instead, it is fiercely fought against and repressed even by the more moderate political regimes on the planet. We have been indoctrinated to distrust it. Try to explain to anyone that you do not believe in the idea of nation, that you do not consider yourself a citizen of a particular country, that you feel uncomfortable at the sight of ANY national flag: you will be regarded as suspicious. Try to claim it your right to settle ANYWHERE on the planet and live there, provided you participate in the life of the local community. Try to live without a passport. Not only will the official power flag you as suspicious: your friends, your family, your community will ignore you at best, challenge you most of the time, sometimes violently.

[Soon Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

It described a migratory history of humankind and i was thrilled to encounter some names of my favorite authors and books. I recommend this book to anybody who is not dared to be a voluntary nomad.

[sa6 · Rating 3 out of 5]

📖 Book Summary

Migration has become a deeply divisive and stigmatized topic in recent years, but the author argues that this is not a new phenomenon. By examining history, they reveal how migration has often been misunderstood and undervalued, with rare exceptions, such as the Roman Empire or multicultural Spain in the 8th century.
The book’s central thesis is that the stigma surrounding migration arises from its profound impact on shaping our identity, culture, and economy—areas that have been either overlooked or misrepresented. For instance, nationalist narratives often hinge on the idea of a homogenous population descending from early settlers who thrived in one region, creating a distinct and superior culture. However, the author dismantles this myth with compelling evidence, showing that every nation has experienced multiple waves of migration, making our ancestry far more interconnected and complex than these simplistic stories suggest.

The author also highlights humanity's deep-rooted history as a migratory species, noting that we have spent the vast majority of our existence as nomads (approximately 12,000 out of 200,000 years). Migration, they argue, is not just a story of survival or escape—it is also driven by curiosity, adventure, and the innate human desire for exploration. Fascinatingly, they discuss how genetic traits, such as a variant of the DRD4 gene (known as DRD4-7R), may make certain individuals more inclined to embrace new horizons.

Ultimately, the book posits that migration is the story of us all. By embracing this truth and recognizing the diverse motivations behind migration, we can foster a more informed and constructive conversation about it—a perspective that feels especially urgent in today’s polarized world.


🎨 Impressions
The book presents a compelling argument for why migration is an intrinsic part of human nature and why we often fail to fully acknowledge its causes and consequences. It effectively highlights how migration has played a crucial role in the success of many nations (e.g., the United States) and underscores the idea that migration, in some form, is the story of all of us.

However, I ultimately gave the book 3 stars because it left me with unanswered questions about its relevance to today’s world. What do these insights mean in a globalized context? What are the moral and practical implications of controlling migration? For instance, a utopian vision of a borderless world with no passports or barriers might lead to the homogenization of cultures and languages. In a world that places significant value on cultural preservation and diversity, is this a desirable outcome? And if not, does this justify restricting free movement?

Many of today’s global conflicts are deeply rooted in issues of identity and power, with groups striving to secure the best conditions for those within a shared cultural or national identity (e.g., the Israeli-Palestinian conflict). One of the challenges posed by cultural homogenization is its implicit demand for universal appeal—an inherently difficult, if not impossible, goal. For instance, I personally would struggle to fully embrace certain Islamic principles, just as others might find it challenging to accept aspects of my own values. This tension raises a complex question: to what extent should migration be controlled to preserve the core values that define specific communities?

At the same time, there’s an undeniable discomfort in restricting the free movement of people. Moreover, cultural homogenization is already happening to a degree, driven by global connectivity through the internet and social media. From an optimistic perspective, perhaps the solution lies in embracing migration and cultural diversity, fostering mutual respect, and learning from one another. Over time, this could allow us to collectively "cherry-pick" the best elements of different cultures, leading to a more balanced and thriving world.

[Aditi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Migrants by Sam Miller is a captivating walk through that delves into the theme of migration. As an avid reader interested in stories that shed light on the human experience, I was drawn to this book's exploration of some interesting topics.

Miller's adept handling of the theme of migration is commendable. The theme of belonging is beautifully explored, with the author highlighting the intricate connections between identity, culture, and the search for a place to call home.

The author's writing style is both eloquent and engaging. Miller's descriptions transport the reader to various settings, from the bustling streets of a war-torn city to the treacherous paths of a refugee camp. The prose is evocative, effectively conveying the characters' emotions and immersing the reader in their world. The pacing is well-balanced, capturing both the urgency and the quiet moments of introspection that define the characters' journeys.

Migrants left a lasting impression on me. Through its engaging narrative and authentic writing, it powerfully depicts the challenges and triumphs of those who embark on the migratory journey. Sam Miller's ability to humanize the experiences of migrants is a testament to his talent as a writer. This book serves as a poignant reminder of the shared struggles and resilience that define our common humanity.

Starting this I was a little worried that it might be one of those books that basically just glorifies traveling and the stupid upper-class liberal belief that everyone needs to "see the world." Being a big advocate for localization and simple living I just have no patience for that idea at this point. Fortunately, though Sam Miller is sort of into a lot of the same things I am and therefore puts a little more of a radical spin on the topic than the typical travelogue.

This leads to some interesting musings on imperialism, indigenous cultures, the tourism industry, environmentalism, and even a quick mention of bioregionalism. At times her writing kind of reminded me of David Abram's stuff, going off on these weird poetic tangents that lead you to visualize things in a way you might see them while using psychedelic drugs or something. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. There is value in it, even if only to encourage you to stay open-minded to new ideas about things that you might think you already know everything about.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review: Migrants by Sam Miller
8/10

I went into this expecting a book about people on the move. What I found was a quiet, layered meditation on how the world and our place in it is built on movement.

Miller takes us back thousands of years through history, power, and the idea of land itself, the original definition of migration.

“There are no clean origin stories for land.”

Almost every claim, every border, starts with conquest. And yet we’ve built systems that treat land as if it’s always been owned neatly and rightfully.

He invites us to see something we often forget:

We didn’t stop being migrants. We just created paperwork and drew lines.
What we now call ownership once began with someone taking, fencing, naming.

There’s a haunting clarity in the way he writes. It’s not emotional. It’s not detached either. Just honest.

•Belonging is shaped more by power than fairness.
•Stillness is the exception in human history.
•Movement, even today, remains deeply human but unequally allowed.
•We’ve shifted from sharing land to locking it. From access to exclusion.

The book doesn’t try to resolve anything. And maybe that’s the point.
It stays with you, not because it offers answers but because it reshapes the questions.

For anyone working across cultures, borders, governance or even just thinking about identity, this book is a quiet challenge.

We’re all migrants. The only difference is when.

#BookReview #Migrants #SamMiller #Belonging #Mobility #Africa #LandAndPower #WeAreAllMigrants #LeadershipReading #PlaceAndIdentity

[Leftbanker · Rating 2 out of 5]

We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
Oh, there's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true, we'll make a better day
Just you and me
Blah, blah, blah.
We are all a part of Gods great big family

Remember that awful song we were tortured with on the radio, for those of you old enough to remember the radio? That’s what this book was for me, everyone in the world holding hands because we are all immigrants. There, doesn’t that feel nice?

He lost me when in this book which is supposed to a sociology study and he uses the Bible and Greek mythology as sources. He just goes so far out of his way to make sure that he doesn’t let up for a split second in reminding us that we all came from somewhere else, something that really doesn’t answer a single question about modern issues with immigration.

It just wears me out to read stuff like this where writers become contortionists to make sure that they don’t offend anyone, anywhere.
He makes no mention of how some immigrants make zero effort at integration, bringing with them mentalities, traditions, and adherence to laws that citizens in the West literally fought in the streets to change in the past century. Yes, let’s go back to women without rights or access to birth control or abortion. Separation of church and state? Fuck that, we didn't have that where we came from so why start now?

[Bharat Arora · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read if you’re human!

Sam Miller has taken an often tedious and touchy subject and transformed it into a thought-provoking, insightful, and deeply moving read, guaranteed to add nuance to your worldview. Sam posits that humans are inherently a migratory species, and our migratory rather than sedentary nature forms the basis of our society. He illustrates this point by explaining key events in our history such as the first migration out of Africa, the creation of western civilization, and the impacts of colonialism and slavery. Despite the book’s expansive nature, all the stories are digestible, and Sam creates an immersive narrative that allows you to not only learn about but vicariously experience the lives of our ancestors. Between each chapter, Sam shares personal anecdotes that add a dose of humor and relatability, making the book both educational as well as entertaining.

With each page, this book demonstrates that migration is at the core of human history, a feature rather than a bug, and that essentially all humans are migrants. It forces you to acknowledge this fact when having discussions about modern-day migration and equips you to approach this subject with more information, and more importantly, with empathy and humility.

Truly a gem of a book that deserves more recognition - should be required reading for everyone.

[Himanshu Upreti · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We are all descended from migrants."

We humans have been a migratory species fundamentally. Most people move in search of work or economic opportunity, to join family, or to study. Others move out of necessity to escape conflict, persecution, etc.

Curiosity has been central to the human species and it continues to remain rightfully so with the global migration that happens to date. Overall, the estimated number of international migrants has increased over the past five decades. As per a UN migration report, a total of 281 million people live in a country other than their country of birth.

Migrants have been central to building and scaling economies across the globe. Be it the Silicon Valley of the USA or the Silicon Valley of India, migrants have played a crucial role in both. Tech giants like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook were all founded by first or second-generation immigrants. According to a report, migrants contributed roughly 10% percent to global GDP.

This book is a history of us all - after all, we have all descended from our migrant ancestors. And the book continues to be ever more relevant in the current geo-political scenario associated with migrants.

[Swapna Peri ( Book Reviews Cafe ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Migrants: The Story of Us All" by Sam Miller explores the complex reasons people migrate, including curiosity, adventure, civil conflict, destitution, and climate change. The book challenges the belief that fixed residences and lifelong nationalities are natural, arguing that people have always been mobile. Miller's book, written in first person, discusses the role of migration in the struggle for identity in India and the nationalism of established people. The book highlights the importance of understanding migration and its impact on individuals and communities. While the book is informative and intriguing, it does not significantly improve our understanding of migration. Overall, "Migrants: The Story of Us All" offers a comprehensive and insightful look at human movement history.

[Mariana CD · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a fantastic introduction to the forgotten migrations in human history and provides a new perspective on migrants around the world (ancient and modern).
That said, I gave the book 3 stars because, regardless of Miller's extensive analysis of ancient migrations of Jewish tribes and modern Zionism, he drastically minimizes the impact that the Jewish migration to Palestine in the 20th century had on indigenous Palestinians (Jews, Arabs, Muslims, Christians, etc.). This is a book that aims to provide a valuable premise that debunks the negative perceptions about migrants, nomads, and even colonial settlers like Columbus, but it failed to address one of the most dramatic colonizations and dispossessions of modern history by omitting the violent impact of Zionism on Palestinians and the Middle East. Intentional or not, this omission made me discredit the author's premise.

[Thaths · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am usually a fan of Miller's work (A Strange Kind of Paradise is a book i rave about to anybody who would listen to me). But this book just didn't do it for me. I agree with the thesis of this book (Being a peripatetic migration myself, the book was talking about me - not to me). But it somehow did not resonate with me. There were so many more stories of migrations to talk about, but in the interest of length, the author chose to only focus on a few. Miller seems to be aware of this shortcoming and apologizes for it in the Afterword section.

I am glad this book exists. It could have been better.

[em · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this book when I found out I got the JET job working in Japan. I feel that is quite fitting, especially as I was gifted this books by my tutor whilst on exchange in Australia. I feel like Miller would have enjoyed that story and appreciated the dents this book sports after being shoved in various suitcases and flown across the world

First non- fiction book I think I have ever finished as like an active reader. Took a while because of Dissertation and deadlines but thoroughly enjoyed. I especially enjoyed the authors approach and choice of periods - found most chapters to be interesting. Felt like my brain grew a bit as well which is good.

[Antonie Fountain · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredibly important book.

First off: Miller can write. His prose draws you in and you just don’t want to put down the book. So, purely in style, it’s already absolutely recommendable.

But far more importantly, his arguments are so welcome and a breath of fresh air amidst a world that is increasingly problematising the idea of migration.

Miller reminds us that mankind, ever since we first appeared in Africa, is a deeply migratory species. It’s really part of what defines us.

Well read, well researched, and ridiculously broad in scope. This is a must read.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed Migrants, The Story of Us All by Sam Miller. He traces the human race, how interactions with very early humans created the race we have today. There is only one race that has survived to the present day. There are many who left Africa, migrating in all directions till they occupied most of the earth. Up to the present time migration continues for many reasons, mainly for survival and ensuring their genes/children continues. It was interesting to learn how and why we are all migrants. 4½/5

[John Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this when remaindered/discounted and very much enjoyed a rollicking history through the last 2000 years of migration which shows the games played by the sedentary population to demonise those who are nomadic for whatever reason. the book doesn't set out to be comprehensive but makes a repeated point that there is nothing odd about humans moving around. It is a normal human activity. What is strange is the tactics designed to inhibit or prevent it.

[Roland Glotzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant and one of the best I ever read. It is a history of migration but not just factual as the book is written with empathy and personal anecdotes. It is thoughtful and possibly the best antidote to racism and hatred of all those who are “different”. I would highly recommend to make this book compulsory reading in schools.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting as a historical telling of people as a migratory species but was expecting more of an in depth debate and to touch on current toxicity around the language and attitude towards migrants.

An interesting read; not what i originally thought it would be - expecting more political than historical.

3.5

[Nika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and playfully challenging. I was surprised to see how few accounts of female migrants there were - but I guess that’s mostly the fault of the archives and historical limitations, not the author. -1 star because I got a bit bored in the middle of the book.

[Sarah Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is quite dense, very informative, a historical account of migration, rather than the socio-political one I thought it would be!

But generally quite enjoyable and offers a good perspective on migration that aims to normalise the idea of it. For forced migration, migration from persecution, poverty, and climate change, and simply because humans like migrating!

[Raluca Tamas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable and insightful, a mix of histories about cultures, travels, beginnings and endings. The author is definitely passionate about the subject. The only thing I am missing is a better organization of references for the information provided in the book.

[Chandra Khushwant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional

[Bindi Brook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly interesting. But found the narration a bit tedious.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another tantalising, thoughtful and provocative read by Sam Miller, masterfully getting to the core of what makes us human.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous overview and a lot of food for thought.

[Robert Grønås · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helt ok bok om immigrasjon og immigranter gjennom historien og hvordan disse har blitt oppfattet og mottatt.

[Iván · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un extraordinario libro sobre la migración como eje vital del ser humano. Una obra imprescindible.