Scottish-born Alexander Mackay (1808 52) spent much of his career as a journalist in North America. He was in Britain working for the Morning Chronicle when, in January 1846, he set sail again for the United States, this time to report on the debates over the Oregon question, relating to British and American claims to territory in the Pacific North-West. He spent several months in Washington, D.C. before travelling around the country as far south as the Mississippi, and west to the Great Lakes. This three-volume work, published in 1849, uses his journey to frame a general account of 'the political system, the social life, and the material progress of the Union'. Mackay observed a vibrant and prosperous country, and his work captures the energy of these boom years. In Volume 1, Mackay describes New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, and explains American society and the political and judiciary systems.

Scottish-born Alexander Mackay (1808 52) spent much of his career as a journalist in North America. He was in Britain working for the Morning Chronicle when, in January 1846, he set sail again for the United States, this time to report on the debates over the Oregon question, relating to British and American claims to territory in the Pacific North-West. He spent several months in Washington, D.C. before travelling around the country as far south as the Mississippi, and west to the Great Lakes. This three-volume work, published in 1849, uses his journey to frame a general account of 'the political system, the social life, and the material progress of the Union'. Mackay observed a vibrant and prosperous country, and his work captures the energy of these boom years. Volume 2 focuses on political parties, slavery and railways, and describes Mackay's travels in Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana.

Scottish-born Alexander Mackay (1808 52) spent much of his career as a journalist in North America. He was in Britain working for the Morning Chronicle when, in January 1846, he set sail again for the United States, this time to report on the debates over the Oregon question, relating to British and American claims to territory in the Pacific North-West. He spent several months in Washington, D.C. before travelling around the country as far south as the Mississippi, and west to the Great Lakes. This three-volume work, published in 1849, uses his journey to frame a general account of 'the political system, the social life, and the material progress of the Union'. Mackay observed a vibrant and prosperous country, and his work captures the energy of these boom years. Volume 3 focuses on the Great Lakes region, mining and navigation, and discusses education, religion, and the 'American character'.

Scottish-born Alexander Mackay (1808-1852) spent most of his career as a journalist in Canada and the United States, though he had been called to the bar in 1847. In 1851 he was commissioned by the chambers of commerce of Manchester, Liverpool, Blackburn, and Glasgow to go to India and report on the cultivation of cotton there, especially around Gujarat. He stayed for a year and was on his way back to Britain - his return forced by ill health - when he died at sea in 1852. His Western India, however, was published the following year after it was revised by James Robertson. The book highlights the many impediments to further growth of the Indian cotton trade: the poverty of the cultivators, heavy taxation, outdated planting methods and poor infrastructure, as well as the problem of competition from the booming cotton exports of the United States.

Thomas Glover arrived in Nagasaki in 1859, just as Japan was opening to the West. Within a few years he had played a crucial part in the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate, providing the rebels with war-winning, Scottish-designed warships, and modern arms. Bankruptcy by the age of thirty was barely a setback and he went on to become a pivotal figure in the rapidly expanding Mitsubishi empire, founding shipyards and breweries. As energetic in his love-life as in business and politics, Glover had a string of Japanese mistresses, one of whom inspired Puccini's Madam Butterfly. This 'Scottish Samurai' was to become an adviser to the Japanese government; he also arranged for many Japanese to visit Britain and see the wonders of the industrial revolution, a lesson they enthusiastically absorbed. Today, Glover is regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Japanese economic miracle.