Morris Birkbeck (1764-1825) was a political ‘radical’ who emigrated from England to Illinois in 1817 with George Flowers to establish a colony of English emigrant farmers. They bought 26,000 acres in Edwards County, calling it the English Prairie Settlement, and also laid out the town of Albion. Birkbeck was a progressive farmer, and organized the Agricultural Society of Illinois.

For this book, Birkbeck collected a number of letters that he had written to acquaintances in England, providing information about Illinois and encouraging them to come to the English Prairie. The book was very widely read in Great Britain, and was also translated into German and French.