This book examines the events surrounding the establishment of a settlement in West Africa in 1787, which was later to become Freetown, the present-day capital of Sierra Leone. It outlines the range of ideas and attitudes to Africa which underlay the foundation of the settlement, and the part played by the settlers themselves, London's 'Black Poor'. The relevance of the expedition to contemporary race relations in Britain is considered. Once in West Africa, the settlers faced a struggle to survive against often harsh conditions, a struggle which included conflict with slave traders and local Africans. It is suggested that the final,albeit limited, success of the settlement helped to mould British policy towards Black Africa during the first half of the nineteenth century.