Emigrant Ships

From the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, millions of people took ships from the Old World in search of new lives across the oceans. They were driven from their homes by poverty, persecution and famine, or lured by the gold finds and promises of fortunes. The ships on which they travelled, along with the companies which owed them, the routes they took and the conditions onboard form the core of this new book. The main destination was North America, especially the United States. Other significant countries of disembarkation were Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and for some Europeans, South America - Germans to Chile and Italians to Argentina. As well as telling this extraordinary story of mass migration, the author discusses the sources of information both for ships and the emigrants. There are many surviving records, accounts and diaries; there are ships' logs, newspapers and Government reports, and an important chapter deals with the survival and location of passenger lists and other records of emigrant ancestors.
An essential book for those doing genealogical research, as well as a fascinating study of the ships that carried emigrants across the globe over a period of two hundred years.