Angela McCarthy is Professor of Scottish and Irish History at the University of Otago, New Zealand. She is the editor of A Global Clan (2006) and author of Personal Narratives of Irish and Scottish Migration, 1921-65 (2007) and Scottishness and Irishness in New Zealand since 1840 (2011). John M. MacKenzie is Emeritus Professor of Imperial History at Lancaster University and holds honorary professorships of Aberdeen and St Andrews universities. He is the author of The Scots in South Africa (2007), Museums and Empire (2009) and co-editor with T.M. Devine of Scotland and the British Empire (2011).

'The coherence of such a volume is really down to the judicious editing, selection, sequencing and co-ordination of the editors, and in all these respects McCarthy and MacKenzie are to be commended … A history book ought to be judged as much by the questions it raises as by the answers it offers: that is the ultimate motor of a mature historiographical tradition. In this regard, this volume is exemplary'.

• List of Illustrations and Tables; Contributor Biographies; Acknowledgements; Preface: A Tribute to Sir Tom Devine, John M. MacKenzie; 1.Introduction, Angela McCarthy and John M. MacKenzie; 2. ‘As hewers of wood and drawers of water’: Scotland as an emigrant nation, c.1600-c.1800, Andrew Mackillop; 3. Behavioural economics and the paradox of Scottish emigration: ‘You have only seen the fortunate few and drawn your conclusion accordingly’, David Alston; 4. Scottish diasporas and Africa,John M. MacKenzie; 5. ‘Have the Scotch no claim upon the Cherokee?’, Colin Calloway; 6. Right across the spectrum: Scots and indigenous peoples in the Australian colonies, Ann Curthoys, 7. The importance of ethnicity? James Taylor and Ceylon tea,Angela McCarthy; 8. Common cause: Commonwealth Scots and the Great War, Stuart Allan and Dr David Forsyth; 9. ‘Part of my heritage’: Ladies’ pipe bands, associational culture and ‘homeland’ identities in the Scottish diaspora, Erin Grant; 10. The modern Scottish diaspora in Hong Kong and New Zealand and their understanding of Scottishness, Iain Watson; 11. Encountering an imaginary heritage: Roots tourism and Scotland’s young diaspora, Tawny Paul; 12. Home is where the heart is: Affinity Scots and the Scottish diaspora, David Hesse; 13. What Scottish diaspora?, David Fitzpatrick; Afterword, Eric Richards; Index.