Customer Reviews

Black Roots: A Beginners Guide To Tracing The African American Family Tree

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Black Roots delivers far beyond the stated expectations. Not only is it a one of a kind comprehensive guide for the new genealogist, but serves as a corrective resource for the more advanced researcher. Unlike traditional guides, Mr.Burroughs'largely first person, experiential accounts are so genuine, that he effortlessly, fervently and even humorously, challenges the reader to explore self, family and the human experience in general. He sets forth thirty-four(34) "traps" that the beginning genealogist should avoid, which is a unique feature to a genealogical guide. Traps are interspersed throughout the chapters and reviewed together in the appendix. One can surmise that some of these traps evolved from Mr. Burroughs' early personal blunders. Although the Book's title addresses African American research, his expert advice transcends culture/ethnicity.

Black Roots borders on over-kill; so, readers who shy away from intensity may not get beyond the first twenty-five pages. Mr. Burroughs states that his book is limited in scope, yet he leaves no stone unturned. His dictate for scientific methodology, discipline and tenacity throughout, may be somewhat intimidating to the faint hearted new researcher who thinks genealogy is "merely a hobby". Although he shares plenty of motivational lifts such as "Have fun and Don't give up", some may not see any amusement in the phrase,"the study of..." On the other hand, it would be difficult not to be trapped by Mr. Burroughs' fire and passion for the study of...genealogy.

"Black Roots," by renown Black genealogists Tony Burroughs is without doubt the best "how-to" book on getting started in African American genealogy that has been written for the beginner. Bringing to bear his wide experience as a teacher, lecturer, and researcher, Mr Burroughs addresses in detail all of the traditional, as well as non-traditional, elements that make for searching, researching, and documenting a genealogy as well as family history. This book is extremely well written, illustrated, and organized; suitable for use for individual study as well as classroom use. In addition to containg numerous clear examples for his narratives in its twenty chapters, the book also has a set of excellent appendixes covering: a glossary, acronyms, traps, a short biography of Robert Elliott Burroughs (one of the "skeletons" all genealogists find, and the author's uncle), a directory of sources, and an excellent bibliography. If one buys only one book this year, I strongly recommend: "Black Roots," by Tony Burroughs.

Having researched my own family history for the past two years, I anxiuosly read Mr. Burroughs' book after meeting him at a book signing. And it is through my own experiences that I can reccommend this book for the beginning and advanced genealogist, and even for those with a passing interest in family history.

The book validated many of the steps that I had already taken, and offered guidelines for increasing the depth of my research. Moreover, the book walks you from the research gathering stage into the synthesis and publication stages, which seem to be the toughest for all.

As far as African-American genealogy, Mr. Burroughs focuses on the importance of oral history and the special problems of tracing family history through slavery.

I WISH THAT I HAD THIS BOOK WHEN I STARTED! But, I am glad that I have it now.

This is the best source for black genealogy that I have read. It was an easy read and hard to put down. Mr Burroughs gave good explanations and used interesting examples. When he introduced a new concept, he explained it thoroughly and gave an example of why or why not to do whatever he was explaining. I learned a lot of good habits from this book, especially about documenting sources. If you are planning to become a professional genealogist, this book is a good beginning and an excellent reference for your genealogy library. I know I am going to buy it and have already referred several others (who are beginners to genealogy) to read it and/or purchase it.

Tony Burroughs shares an exilirating experience of his journey regarding genealology research and findings. This book will lead you to greater heights! I found the book to be one of the most valuable pieces of information regarding my genealogy research. It lead me to find my family in Washington, Louisiana back to 4 generations. It was the most rewarding project that I ever encountered! What an awesome journey!

Tony Burroughs provides myriad of valuable information that all African-American genealogists need. Beginners and experienced researchers alike can benefit from this informative read.

When someone comes to me with a difficult research line and is stumped, I recommend that they take the time to read Tony's book. It is well-written and serves as an excellent resource for ALL genealogists, Black or otherwise!

This book is a good start for individuals who are just beginning their genealogy research. As someone who has done a fair amount of work already, I was hoping this book would give me insights that I could not already find on [...] or RootsWeb.

On the plus side, the book is well organized and written in a language anyone can comprehend. I would highly recommend it to the novice genealogist.

I am, however, still on the search for more intermediate knowledge.

I was extremely satisfied with this book. Mr. Burroughs gave many suggestions that proved extremely valuable. I would highly recommend this book.

I purchased this book used, but it was in great condition. It is a very informative reference book. The author gives numerous, valuable references and his personal insights for anyone doing African American family research and the stumbling blocks you will face. It's all based on his own family research. Although we usually think of finding information about those ancestors who have passed on, this book has taught me to look at and evaluate all records more closely. After many years of keeping it in a file cabinet, I just noticed some misinformation that was given on my own birth certificate. My father's age at the time of my birth is off by one year. I plan to keep this book in my personal library and to make the study of our family history a life long project. The book has opened my eyes to many of the resources available to help in the search for unknown ancestors. Very inspirational!