Xeniteia, or sojourning in foreign parts, is central to the experience of the Greek people in modern times. Yet the study of the emergence and present state of the Greek communities, in many cases large and prosperous, that exist in many parts of the world has not so far received the attention it deserves. This volume brings together studies of a number of the major communities of the diaspora: the United States, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Russia/Georgia and Egypt. An intro-ductory chapter traces the emergence from the eighteenth century onwards of the present world-wide dispersion of Greeks and a concluding chapter addresses questions of identity that necessarily arise in any consideration of diaspora communities. The Greeks constitute one of the world's archetypal diasporas. The essays gathered in this volume help to explain why this is so. They raise broader questions which will be of interest to students of diasporas in general, as modern communications make it easier for diaspora communities to sustain contact with the homeland and for the 'national centre' to seek to mobilise the political and economic resources of diaspora communities in the national interest.