This is a study of those men and women who went to New England in the Great Migration of the 1630s and subsequently returned to their English homes. It has its origins in a doctoral dissertation for which the author developed a remarkable database of those individuals and the lives they lived after their returns. Decades of subsequent research has enabled Hardman Moore to place these individual stories into a context and derive the meaning that they have for the histories of both colonial America and seventeenth-century England. The focus of the story is upon those whom we normally refer to as American Puritans (the term ‘Pilgrim’ is generally used for the Separatist settlers of the Plymouth colony, the history of which plays but a small part in this book). The book opens with a prologue in which the author recounts the story of Susanna Bell, whose life not only sets forth the themes of the book but establishes Hardman Moore's interest in the particular stories of men and women who went to New England only to leave. Her ability to weave such material into her general narrative is one of the most valuable assets of the book. Chapter i offers an analysis of the reasons for the Puritan errand into the wilderness in which she shows her awareness of the vast literature on the subject while bringing new insight to it. While recognising other reasons which encouraged emigration she points to the fundamental religious reasons which prompted many to emigrate, and many more to consider the option. She is particularly insightful in examining the discussions among the godly as they struggled to decide whether such a course was called for, and the difficulties encountered by those who set sail for the New World. A number of scholars have pointed to the varieties of Puritan experience in England and the difficulties that this posed for those who sought to create a godly society in America. In her second chapter Hardman Moore builds on these insights in explaining how pious practices rooted in the migrants' English experience were gradually transformed into the foundations of new and purer Churches. She shows how the development of church covenants not only bound the colonists into closer communities but put brakes on any inclination to move out of those communities. Much of what is covered in these early chapters will be familiar to students of the region's history, as will some of the general points made in the discussion of the reaction of the colonists to the outbreak of conflict in England in the 1640s and the hopes generated for the reform of that land and its Church. Previous works by Raymond Phineas Stearns, Harry Stout and myself among others have pointed to the fact of a return migration of colonists who became engaged in England's Puritan Revolution (which is acknowledged here). But Hardman Moore has gone beyond previous work in documenting the extent of the migration – at least 600 individuals whom she can identify by name, including one of every three clergy. She carefully examines the various reasons for the migration. She also goes beyond previous scholarship in documenting the impact that these men and women had on events in their mother country. Her examination of the impact that they had on introducing the New England Way into England will be of particular interest to students of English religious history. Hardman Moore covers this material gracefully and efficiently in a mere 151 pages. The remainder of the book is, however, equally valuable. Appendix i is an essay examining previous work on this subject as well as discussion of the terms ‘pilgrim’ and ‘Puritan’. Appendix ii details each individual she has been able to identify as a returning emigrant, where they originated from in England, when they went to New England and where they settled, the year of their return, the place of their English resettlement and the occupation they pursued. Appendix iii provides brief biographies of all the first generation New England clergy arranged by diocese. Appendix iv offers an essay on English preachers of the 1640s and 1650s (including laymen and Harvard graduates) who originated in New England. The extensive annotation will be a valuable resource for those seeking to pursue the subject further. While specialists may quibble about some of the details of the work, none will deny that it is deeply researched, well argued and gracefully written. It is a valuable contribution to the growing scholarship that explores Puritanism in a transatlantic dimension that demonstrates how knowledge of English history contributes to an understanding of American history, and, in this case especially, how the New England story can illuminate neglected aspects of English history.