In 1554 the first English merchants settled in Moscow and began to build their communal world. Relocating to St. Petersburg in 1723, their 'world-building' intensified. The records they left behind make it clear that, while the 'place' which was Petersburg shaped their lives in substantial ways, they were resolute in ignoring their hosts, wherever possible, for almost two centuries. This study uses data drawn from the operations of this long-dispersed community to examine a number of questions connected to expatriate settlement in general - boudary-making, ethnicity, identity-formation, globalization, the interpretation of multinational worlds - and the values and attitudes which fuelled Britain's nineteenth century imperial/commercial expansion in particular. The theoretical understanding which underpins 'Making a Communal World', is taht circulating discourse in any social entity craetes, disciplines, enables or disables, and defines for consciousness the nature and workings of the entity for its members, and exploration of this approach comprises a major part of discussion.