Magnificent ... a high achievement, a history of modern Scotland which, rarely for the subject, endows with sweep and power the changes that have created the country we live in

Devine's scholarship is state of the art ... if you are after answers to the big questions of Scottish history, Devine is your man

[This] rigorous and unsentimental history of Scotland's global diaspora ... explodes myths and foregrounds the prosaic realities of emigration ... it has the fascinating charm of a detective story

Presents a grand overview of Scottish emigration ... very revealing ... an example of why To the Ends of the Earth is so timely [is that] it helps define the real landscape of choice and decision that is now presenting itself more plainly since the last Scottish election

Sharply written ... Devine is an admirable historian, acerbic in judgment, and a pleasure to read ... fill[s] a serious gap left by the tendency of imperial historians to dwell on the political and capital power wielded in Westminster and the City of London

Devine has brought a greater understanding to this fascinating subject and offers an intriguing perspective on a key component of our history and national identity

Figes has achieved something extraordinary ... the gulag story lacks individuals for us to sympathise with: a Primo Levi, an Anne Frank or even an Oskar Schindler. Just Send Me Word may well be the book to change that ... the kind of love that most of us can only dream of

Remarkable ... Figes, selecting and then interpreting this mass of letters, makes them tell two kinds of story. The first is a uniquely detailed narrative of the gulag, of the callous, slatternly universe which consumed millions of lives ... The second is about two people determined not to lose each other

A quiet, moving and memorable account of life in a totalitarian state ... The book often reads like a novel ... captivating

Orlando Figes has wrought something beautiful from dark times

A heart-rending record of extraordinary human endurance

[A] remarkable tale of love and devotion during the worst years of the USSR ... [Figes's] fine narrative pacing enhances this moving, memorable story