Includes bibliographical references (pages 381-424) and index.

Prologue -- Neanderthals, sapiens and the Beagle -- An early intermission -- Babylon, the Bible and Blazing saddles -- A second intermission -- Phoenicians, Greeks and Aryans -- A third intermission -- Exiles, Romans and vandals -- A fourth intermission -- Arabs, Vikings and Neo-Trojans -- A fifth intermission -- Genoa, Columbus and the Taino -- A sixth intermission -- Virginia, slavery and the Mayflower -- A seventh intermission -- Linnaeus, Chinatown and Fu Manchu -- An eighth intermission -- Zionists, refugees and Great Aunty Polly -- A ninth intermission -- Liberty, Harlem and the rainbow tribe -- A final intermission -- Guest workers, Braceros and wetbacks.

"We are all descended from migrants. Humans are, in in fundamental ways, a migratory species, more so than any other land mammal. Migration is one of the most toxically controversial subjects of our day, but it is not only an issue of our age. Migrants are expected 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. Migration tells us that this is not a new narrative; this is the history of migration, which is part of everybody's backstory - for those who consider themselves migrants and those who do not. For most of our existence as a species, we were all nomads, and some of us still are. Houses and permanent settlements are a relatively late development - dating back little more than ten thousand years. Borders and passports are much more recent. From Neanderthals, to the Ancient Greeks, to the African slave trade, to modern migrants, Migration 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"--Publisher's description.