Discoveries of America is a collection of personal letters written by eighteen of the thousands of British emigrants who came to North America in the fifteen years preceding the onset of the American Revolution. These accounts are rare: few letters sent by emigrants during the colonial period exist. The letters reveal the motivations, experiences, characteristics, and emotions of these people, who populated America at a crucial time in its history, and provide insights into the mechanisms of the British-American migration, especially the organisation of personal networks of family and friends.

"Discoveries of America is a welcomed, meticulously researched addition to the study of the eighteenth-century North Atlantic world." The North Carolina Historical Review

"...this book...will fascinate readers with an interest in the complexities of migration of British emigrants who dared to cross the Atlantic and write home about their experience in the New World in order to invite others to follow their example." Marianne S. Wokeck, Michigan Historical Review