In a modernist interpretation of migration controls, nation states play a major role. This book challenges this interpretation by showing that comprehensive migration checks and permanent border controls appeared much earlier, in early modern dynastic states and empires, and predated nation states by centuries. The 11 contributions in this volume explore the role of early modern and modern dynastic kingdoms and empires in Europe, the Middle East and Eurasia and the evolution of border controls from the 16th to the 20th century. They analyse how these states interacted with other polities, such as emerging nations states in Europe, North America and Australia, and what this means for a broader reconceptualization of mobility in Europe and beyond in the longue duree. Contributors are: Tobias Brinkmann, Vincent Denis, Sinan Dincer, Josef Ehmer, Irial A. Glynn, Sabine Jesner, Olga Katsiardi-Hering, Leo Lucassen, Ikaros Mantouvalos, Leslie Page Moch, Jovan Pesalj, Lewis H. Siegelbaum, Annemarie Steidl, and Megan Williams.

Transnational migration within Europe and overseas has become a central theme of historical research in recent years - not least because of its current topical significance. This volume collects a variety of perspectives on the multiplicity of different patterns of migration and of the relationships that sometime linked local, continental, and transatlantic migrations. Although the attention of migration research has long been focused mainly on the spectacular transatlantic migration of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the majority of migrants moved within Europe. The various authors of this volume use examples selected from different European regions and states to develop specific aspects of the broad spectrum of migration patterns that characterized Europe's population movements from the late eighteenth century to the First World War.