Here's what I'm reading this week:
The Danger Tree: Memory, War, And The Search For A Family's Past, by David MacFarlane (Vintage Canada, Division of Random House of Canada Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada: 1991)
and
The Family Tree Problem Solver: Proven methods for scaling the inevitable brick wall, by Marsha Hoffman Rising (Family Tree Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.: 2005)
The Danger Tree isn't your 'average' Canadian family history. There are no descendancy charts (although I would have liked one at least), but there are a few wonderful photographs. MacFarlane has taken the stories of his mother's Newfoundland family, (her own name was Goodyear), as told mainly by the women, and he's set them against the national & international events of the times---politics & the economy, disease, & World War I.
The Family Tree Solver, on the other hand, is a no-nonsense text, well written, with extensive examples, for instance, "Sorting Individuals Of The Same Name". Yes, these examples are all from the United States of America, but the process of planning searches for evidence, searching, then analyzing that evidence, will be the same or very similar for any place or time. This book isn't meant for the beginner, but Rising does include sections like "Ten Mistakes Not To Make In Your Family Research" which will be useful to everyone.
The Family Tree Solver is brand new & available from any 'new' book bookstore. I got mine from LifeTimes Books in Sidney, B.C., Canada. LifeTimes specializes in auto/biographical & genealogical books, new & used. www.lifetimesbooks.ca
The Danger Tree is an older book, and I see over 100 copies available from various used bookstores, mainly in Canada & the U.S.A. through
www.abebooks.com
(I should write something about bookstores very soon.)
No comments:
Post a Comment