The book analyses, in unprecedented detail, the creation of new crofts and the enlargement of existing ones in Scotland in the Outer Hebrides; and in the Inner Hebrides on Skye, Raasay, Tiree and Coll. The process is generally referred to as 'land settlement'.
The principal period covered is 1919 to 1939 when land settlement was at its peak. However, the period beforehand from 1897 to the outbreak of World War I is also dealt with in some considerable detail.
These islands were the centre of land settlement activity in the Highlands and Islands. They were profoundly affected by land settlement, more so than anywhere else. Very few new crofts have been created since.
It breaks new ground by analysing how land settlement legislation and policies were translated into action on the ground.