Genealogy Books

I am new to British genealogy, so this book is very helpful to me because whenever I need help with a certian topic, I just look it up and there's help right there. The explanations under each topic aren't too wordy. They just cut to the main points, I think.

The book itself is made of good quality materials and it seems that it will stand up to my constant page flipping for help!

Also, Amazon offers this book at a great price!

This book is one of my favorites for understanding family history in the United Kingdom.

It is basically an A through Z dictionary of genealogical terms and concepts commonly encountered in British research. The definitions given are both thorough and entertainingly written. Many include references on where more information on the topic may be obtained or where particular records are held. There are illustrations and photographs every four to five pages showing useful examples of terms defined in the text.

If you don't know an advowson from a wardmote, this dictionary will help you decipher both the quaint and common words used in British family history.

A great book for the amateur genealogist. It is light enough that, unlike many books on the subject, it is readable, yet it contains a wealth of information. The book description says "some entries will provoke a chuckle, others a bit of embarrassment, still others a sense of wonder and pride." This is certainly true. As a person of German heritage who (sadly) does not speak German, I was indeed filled with a sense of wonder when I looked up my great-grandfather's name, Hundesauger.

For anyone who is researching German names and family genealogy this book is the definitive, in-depth, and scholarly work in the field of German names. A "must own" book for the serious researcher of German families and names

No one knew that the British government way back when was really so strained for new ideas. Their colonies were prosperous, pillage was rampant, but they were so bored on the homefront that they started writing fetishistic stories about navels. That's right, as odd as it sounds, this is one of those missing-from-history-books episodes in a glorious tradition. (A superlative collection of these belly button stories is available from Random House.)

My 8th Great Grandfather was a Palatine. This book taught me more about my family history than I could ever find elsewhere. The book is a well written history book which as an interested party, I couldn't put down. If you are related to Palatines, I think you need this book !

"The Hour Was One of Horror: East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg," Archer, John M., 100 pp., b/w photographs, maps, appendix, endnotes, index, 1997, $10.00

About half of the East Cemetery Hill battlefield has been lost to development; a watertower, a high school and middle school, and a tour bus center may obscure a casual visitor's comprehension of this portion of the battle. "The Hour Was One of Horror: East Cemetery Hill At Gettysburg" by John Archer is essential in putting the strategic and tactical puzzle together when touring this part of the battlefield. When thinking of East Cemetery Hill, one may picture the Hancock statue, artillery redouts and the Evergreen Cemetery Gate House. Archer's book takes the reader much further than the crest of the hill. East Cemetery Hill was the first land to be set aside as a park, along with Culp's Hill; it is not surprising that public interest in these areas is lags behind the public interest in the Round Tops, Devils Den, and the High Water Mark areas. Though closest to town, economic development and the layout of the park roads do not encourage quick study of this segment of the battle.

The tactical and strategic circumstances of July 1st and 2nd are reviewed in the first quarter of the discussion; then Benner's Hill, the terrain of Early's advance, Brickyard Lane, the CSA breakthroughs at the base of the hill and again at the top, and repulse by USA reinforcements is presented. Archer's presentation of the East Cemetery Hill battle begins, not on the hill but streets of Gettysburg. The retreat of the Federal First and Eleventh Corps, on July 1st from west and north of town to Cemetery Hill, East Cemetery Hill, McKnight's Knoll and Culp's Hill clarifies the combat exhaustion and readiness of the Union forces which defend the Evergreen Gatehouse on July 2nd and 3rd. Archer's discussion of the placement of CSA troops in front of these positions and on Benner's Hill, east of Culp's Hill reveals the terrain and logistical problems that Ewell, CSA 2nd Corps commander had in coordinating the Confederate attacks. Benner's Hill on July 2nd became the platform for CSA artillery that aided the attacks on both Culp's and East Cemetery Hill. The Federal domination of the Confederate artillery on Benner's Hill is essential in understanding the heroic nature of the Rebel attacks, unsupported by artillery, Archer explains.

Though a tourbook with designated stops, Archer's work may be easily used as a general presentation of the combat. Ten maps guide both the armchair reader and the battlefield walker. These maps are original to the book and not generic; based upon the 1864 Bachelder Isometric Map, the 1869 Warren Survey Map, the 1876 Bachelder Maps, and the 1900 Cope Map, these maps are models of clarity and precise reinforcement of the text. Nearly forty historic and modern photographs and illustrations aid the reader in recollecting the site from the armchair or present the walker with the exact spot which soldiers' primary sources discuss. There are no portraits of commanders in the book; this is not lamentable. The text is consistently reinforced with the words of the rank and file soldiers. What is lacking in the book, but is probably on the reader's bookshelf or in the backpack, is an order of battle. The index is brief and adequate. The notes are thorough and add to the text. "The Hour Was One of Horror" is both a fine presentation of the combat and an essential guide to understanding the strategy of the battle, as it developed in the minds of the commanders. This book is highly recommended for the committed student of the battle.

This is an excellent book providing rich, orderly detailed narratives (i.e. easy to read), old & new photos to aid your tour and good graphic/maps. It cites quotations of battle participants in the context of the markers and photos. The author has done a very fine, interesting job in 90 pages. The book/guide is billed by the Tourist bureau net web site as a must read, and it is. It delivers. I'd suggest that this guide would be most appreciated by "return visitors" to the park, but first timers spending more than one day at the park could clearly get some very good value out of this finely detailed book also. I would further suggest that if one obtained the paperback gettysburg "Souvenir Guide to the National Military Park" (Gross & Collins) along with the Archer book they could greatly enrich their tour quality and efficiency. Hats off to John Archer, great work.

East Prussians From Russia by Michael J. Anuta Review by DearMYRTLE © 2 February 1999

DearReaders, Originally published in 1979, little paperback book is so full of research ideas that Clearfield had to publish East Prussians From Russia two additional times, in 1994 and 1998. Chapter headings include: East Prussia, the Land and Early History A Refuge for the Persecuted Development under Prussian Rulers Our Forefathers in East Prussia Invitation to Vohlynia and Migration to the Promised Land The East Prussian Settlers in Vohlynia Baptist Faith and Beliefs Change in Russian Political Climate Preparations for a New Migration Journey to the New World The East Prussians in Wisconsin Church Life in Pound, Coleman and Vicinity East Prussians Became Americans

Pages 171-184 provide a list of immigrants, You also find an epilogue titled "Final Pilgrimage." The bibliography is listed on two pages of tiny print, with an additional page of suggested reading. Throughout the book are rough photocopies of maps, churches, farmlands, people tombstones, documents and such. From the publisher: "Following the subjugation of the indigenous Prusi people by the Teutonic Order during the 13th century, the region known as eastern Prussia emerged as a kind of haven for Christian settlement. During the 1860s, however, numerous East Prussians migrated to the Ukraine and the Russian province of Vohlynia in search of more abundant land. The promise of a better life in Russia proved to be short-lived, however, owing to the abolition of serfdom, universal military conscription, and Russian ethnocentrism. As a result, by the 1890s, large numbers of East Prussians from Russia began to emigrate to the United States, with many, like the author's parents, settling in Wisconsin.

This is the account of that historic pilgrimage, and it devotes ample space to both the European heritage of these Prussian-Americans and the Wisconsin settlements that ensued. Based upon years of research, East Prussians from Russia identifies some 240 Prussian families that re-settled in Marinette and Oconto counties, Wisconsin. Mr. Anuta furnishes the family member's year of birth, date entered the U.S., country of origin, port of entry, and date of death, as well as the name of his spouse, and her dates of birth and death. Also very useful are a number of plat maps showing the distribution of land in the aforementioned counties among East Prussian settlers around the turn of this century. Profusely illustrated, East Prussians from Russia also includes maps, facsimiles of source records, photographs of homes, schools, churches and other evidence of settlement in Germany, Russia, and Wisconsin."

If your ancestors spoke a German dialect and settled in either Marinette or Oconto county of Wisconsin at the end of the 19th century, you'll find this book a precious "window to the past." East Prussians from Russia is essential to your understanding of their hopes of a better life, the disappointments of life in Russia, the rigors of the final journey and establishment of permanent homes in the US.

East Prussians from Russia by Michael J. Anuta copyright 1979 295 pp. in all, Indexed. Illus. (1979), 1998. ISBN 0806314370

This is an excellent book for researching geneology from the Prussian (Eastern Germany) area. The book includes many pictures of the area in Prussia, Russia, and a list of names of the immigrants to northeastern Wisconsin. This list includes information such as: country of origin, port of entry, year of entry, spouses, and as many birth and death dates as the author could locate. It also includes a great deal of history of the Eastern Prussian area, life in East Prussia, and what prompted many people to immigrate first to Russia and then to America. The book goes on to provide a history of the Pound, Wisconsin area and it's people, complete with pictures.

I greatly appreciate this book by Clifford Smith as I have found, discovered, and verified many, many of my ALDINGER family ancestors who immigrated from Fellbach, Germany. Since receiving this book in 1995, I have lived in Fellbach for five months and have personally met many ALDINERS in Fellbach. Thanks again!!

I greatly appreciate this book by Clifford Smith as I have found, discovered, and verified many, many of my ALDINGER family ancestors who immigrated from Fellbach, Germany. Since receiving this book in 1995, I have lived in Fellbach for five months and have personally met many ALDINERS in Fellbach. Thanks again!!

Hopefully this work will come back into print!

Lachterman wanted to get at the idea of modernity, at what made modern thought from Descartes to Kant something very different than the strain of philosophy passing through Aristotle and Plato. But he also wanted by the title to signify that geometry, contrary to Aristotle's claim, does have an ethos of its own. The notion that mathematics has a guaranteed method and that there is only one way for a mathematician to comport himself with respect to the object of his study, these things are very foreign to Lachterman's study. He wanted to show that the ancients and moderns had radically different notions of the role that construction plays in geometry, and ultimately in philosophy itself. The ancients viewed construction as an adjunct to real demonstration; the moderns view construction as identical with the demonstration itself. The two are guided by a very different "ethos", to use an Aristotelian term that is not as loaded with the moral aspect as our modern term, "ethics".

I think he succeeded, but I leave that to you the reader. If you take philosophy seriously and cannot buy this book, find it at a good library or through interlibrary loan. It deserves a lot more attention than it has received.

The first reviewer is quite right about Lachterman's book not getting the attention it deserved. There are two reasons for this of which I am aware: the first is that the library of congress assigned it an ISBN number in the wrong category. The book is a work of philosophy, but it is categorized as history of mathematics. As a result, it languishes in Science Libraries next to dog-eared copies of Euclid's Elements rather than in the philosophy stacks, under modernity, philosophy of. I actually contacted Library of Congress to try to appeal this designation, but needless to say, got nowhere. The other reason for the book having "fallen stillborn from the press" is that Lachterman died of throat cancer just a couple of years after publication. I think he was in his late forties, so we lost a great talent just as he was emerging into the awareness of a wider audience (wider than the Penn State community that greatly appreciated him).

Whether you're just getting into genealogy or you're at a more intermediate stage, this book is an excellent overview to genealogy. Beginners can find out how to get started by interviewing immediate and extended family. There is an overview on naming methods, calendar changes, different record types, genealogical sources, and major genealogy libraries in the U.S.

This book also provides page-sized copies of popular charts such as Family Group Records and Pedigree charts that can be easily photocopied and used. (My edition included a 16" x 18" tear-out family tree.)

Unlike many genealogy books, there is some excellent coverage on how to record family histories and write family biographies. Hartley explains how to publish your work and advises that "Most families who publish a book of genealogy print less than 50 copies."

He also describes the types of materials that you will need (sheet protectors, ink, etc.) to ensure that your records are properly preserved. There is also a section on how to organize activities for family reunions--one of those great venues for gathering genealogical details.

The well-organized and easy-to-read format makes it an excellent book choice for younger genealogists too.

This book provides excellent help for the beginner and becomes a must have reference manual for the advanced Genealogist.

Professor Hartley has provided an easy to read yet detailed solution for beginning and conducting a family search.

A book that surely any history buff, especially who lives in San Diego, will be delighted to have on their bookshelf or coffee table. There's a tremendous variety of outstanding photographs that will keep you turning the pages until the very last.

A must for any San Diego native, or anyone else interested in genealogy or family history. Seeing my father's photo in the book, as well as the binding, is something my family will cherish forever.