Product Description

Best-selling genealogy author Emily Croom presents a new and expanded version of her best-selling guide to genealogy. It provides readers with all the tools and information they need to jump into this great American hobby by focusing on fundamental strategies for success, questions to ask, places for research, and interesting examples of each step along the way.

Throughout, readers will find techniques and suggestions for
* tapping family documents, oral tradition, and memories
* exploring the vast array of U.S. public records, from newspapers and tombstones to censuses and land records
* getting the most from names, dates, and handwriting of the past
* developing a first-rate and meaningful family history

Well-organized, well written, and comprehensive, this guide also offers readers charts, illustrations, reference sidebars, bibliographies, a glossary, and useful, reproducible forms. Each chapter is capped with a list of "Things To Do Now" to encourage readers or students to apply what they have learned.

Recent polls show that 60% of the U.S. population is interested in researching their family history!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #190587 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 180 pages

Amazon.com Review
If you've ever thought of find your roots, Emily Anne Croom's is the genealogy guide to get you going. She's got sensible chapters on how to get started, the meaning of names, the difference between a family history of dates and a family history of stories, how to gather sources, who to interview, and how to fit it all together. Croom breaks the process into bite-sized pieces to turn it into a fun project that takes shape and grows with each new family scrap.

From School Library Journal
YA-- An excellent "how-to" book for those interested in investigating their family genealogy, and a good reference for students tracing family trees for history class. This workbook, with its reproducible forms of all kinds, will help those just starting out, as well as those who have already begun to gather material, to organize, and to extend their search. A sample interview letter and checklists of family sources are particularly helpful, as is the relationship chart--especially for answering the "second-cousins-twice-removed" kind of question. Appendix C lists addresses and phone numbers of genealogical libraries and archives, by state. Sources in the United Kingdom and Caribbean are also listed, as is U. S. state census data.
- Carolyn Henebry, Episcopal High School, Bellaire, Tex.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"A good first choice for the beginning genealogist." -- Library Journal

"A must for the beginner, and a plus for the more advanced genealogist!" -- Oregon Genealogical Society Quarterly

Customer Reviews

Unpuzzling Your Past Guide
Unpuzzling Your Past is a very helpful guide to finding your ancestors if you are into genealogy. It gives basic facts of where to find names and how to trace family members through the clues you find. It is useful for all levels of research. Forms to record your information are available for copying and use in keeping track of what you find. I especially liked the section on reading the handwriting of the past. It provided incite into how letters used to be formed in old documents and made reading them much easier.

Unpuzzling Your Past
Unpuzzling The Past is like a jigsaw puzzle, one piece at a time. It gives readers the information and tools to learn to research and achieve the best results. The book focus on answering how to questions, encourages you to use family and public records, promotes sound research methods and illustrates the process with pertinent research examples. The book teaches that genealogy and familys go hand in hand.

Genealogy Handbook or Manual
Unpuzzling Your Past is a great reference book for both novice and veteran genealogists. I highly recommend it for all beginners as it's comprehensive and easy to understand. For those who've been researching for years it's a good book to refer to when the need arises.