The Shortest History of Migration

Starred review from December 20, 2024

Goldin (globalization and development, Oxford Univ; Age of the City) argues that migration isn't a problem to be solved; it's an ineluctable process of human development to be embraced. His exposition offers insightful history, analysis, and prescriptions for present and future global migrations. Opening with a tracing of humanity's expansion, from its African cradle across and around the globe, it tracks the evolution, experimentation, and exploration of people as they raided, traded, and competed to conquer, colonize, and control others, often coercing labor and exploiting production, products, and resources. Goldin explains how worldwide disruptions triggered an age of mass migration from the 1840s to 1914 and ended unrestricted migration as rising nationalism, chauvinism, and economic protectionism introduced passports and institutional controls prefiguring contemporary problems. He asserts that managing steadily rising migration requires recognizing global interconnectedness, borderless economies, workforce problems, and demographic realities in aging societies. Perhaps most of all, shifting parochial attitudes can help in reimagining extended frontiers. VERDICT This engaging and informative model of accessible scholarly synthesis, with noteworthy instructive illustrations and explanatory sidebars, deserves attention from policy makers and publics worldwide. Advanced secondary and college students and general readers can use it as a world history primer.--Thomas J. Davis

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Starred review from December 15, 2024
An expansive, equity-based history of human migration. For Goldin, migration is a "deeply personal" topic: his grandparents and his father fled antisemitic violence in their home countries, while Goldin himself left his home in South Africa as a result of his principled opposition to the apartheid regime. In this volume, the author traces the social, political, and cultural contexts that shaped migration long before his own family made their decisions to leave and that continue to contribute to economic and social equalities in modern times. Goldin writes, "Understanding why inequality persists and how it can be addressed requires that we understand migration." What follows this personal introduction is a sweeping survey of the causes and consequences of immigration, beginning with the ever-changing scientific evidence informing the dispersal of the first humans from Africa and continuing through the development of ancient international trade routes like the Silk Road; the rise of involuntary migration through indentured servitude and slavery; the ways in which colonialism continues to influence modern times; and the genocide that too often prompted or accompanied mass migrations. This deeply researched book is full of surprising truths, such as the nationalist and capitalistic reasoning behind issuing passports--a practice that, incidentally, began surprisingly recently--and the role diseases played in sealing previously porous borders. Goldin's crisp analysis, combined with his thorough research, results in a work that draws clear connections between ancient events and the modern world. His use of an equity lens is extraordinarily effective at uncovering patterns that underly our current discourse; his argument that, economically, "migration more than repays any initial expense" is particularly compelling. A compulsively readable, trenchantly argued analysis of equity and immigration.

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April 1, 2025

Gr 9 Up-The promise of this series is to condense the growth of France from Roman Gaul to the current day, the history of migration from the movements of prehistoric peoples to modern migrants, or the development of music from early bone flutes to synthesizers into books that could be read in a day. This is dense material due to its subject matter and the way it has been distilled. The migration and France titles both have time lines and all the books have images (diagrams, maps, artwork, photos) to support the text. That text is written by content specialists who draw parallels with current events as well as explaining what has gone before. In Migration, a preface from the author explains his personal connection to the topic. VERDICT A useful reference set, or a possible classroom purchase for Honors courses.

Copyright 2025 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.