''This volume reminds us that for most of the modern period and in a greater number of places, exodus, rather than entry, was the crucial issue, that a larger population has been perceived more often as a blessing than as a problem. The editors assemble a list of international scholars that reads like a 'who 's who ' of migration studies, and in every case the quality of the contributions matches the reputation of the contributors'' Jose C..Moya, professor of history, UCLA and Barnard