Tracing Your Family History (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–A well-crafted, clearly organized guide for beginning and experienced genealogists. The book is divided into five sections from Beginning the Quest to Going Global and includes an extensive international resource directory. The introduction discusses some of the pitfalls and myths of genealogical research. Hull takes readers from the simple to the complex. Each section is logically divided and includes problem and solution and dos and don'ts sidebars. Photos of documents and ancestors complement the text; captions explain how they might be used for further research. A listing of genealogy software, supplies, the National Genealogical Society's recommended publishing standards for sharing information one has gathered in print and on the Internet, and a lengthy index are included, but there is no glossary of genealogical terms. This title could be used for history assignments on the culture of various decades, famous people, and the Holocaust.–Ellen Bell, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Readers Digest (April 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762105739
• ISBN-13: 978-0762105731
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #505,331 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars IF YOU ARE INTESTED, USE THE LIBRARY, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY, March 29, 2008

By	D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

First let me state that this is a Reader's Digest Association publication. Before I go further, I have to warn you that I am not, by the farthest imagination, a fan of anything that Reader's Digest has ever published. or probably ever will publish. I know that many folks enjoy their books, I simply am not one of them. Just thought you should know this before reading the review and consider my attitude while reading this review. Hey, I could be wrong. That being said.....

The subtitle of this work "The Complete Guide of Locating Your Ancestors and Finding Out Where You Came From" is so far from the truth that it is beyond words. This book consists of about 223 pages and a great number of these pages consist of pictures. Not one of these pictures featured a member of my family or any family I know, so I sort of have to place that aspect of the book, i.e. pictures, as pure eye wash. Now think about it. On my book shelf I have approximately seven feet devoted to books on genealogy. That is several thousand pages. Even with these books, I hardly have enough data to even scratch the surface of this subject. The possibility of getting a "complete guide" in just a bit more than 200 pages is pretty slim. Actually, there was not one fact in this work that has not been hashed over many times before.

On the other hand, I did pick up a few tips throughout the books that were indeed helpful. It took some digging, but the tips were indeed there. The book is quite well organized and is divided into several well organized sections; Beginning the Quest, Filling the Gaps, Understanding the Fine Print, Special Circumstances and Going Global. There were some useful sections in this work which explained how to read and interpret certain documents such as pedigree charts, birth and death certificates from other lands, census documents, etc. This information can indeed be found else where, but the author did do a good job of simply describing them and the process. The author did also include very useful do's and don'ts lists throughout the work. This was most helpful.

All in all, if you are an advanced genealogist, this work is far to simple and I doubt if you will find it all that helpful. If you are a beginning genealogist, then it mat be a good book to scan to get you started, but it could quite well discourage you before you even really get started. Actually I found the little books called "Genealogy for Idiots," which you can purchase used for a couple of bucks, much more helpful.

Like most publications from this company, it falls very short of what it was meant to be. The author seems quite knowledgeable and probably would have done better to have chosen a different publisher and editor...it would and could have been a far finer work. I'm giving this one three stars simply due to the effort the author went to, which I am sure was considerable.