Family history, tracing ancestors Books

Book SynopsisDiscover one family''s fascinating story in this beautiful, sweeping, multigenerational memoir, spanning 19th century south China to modern day Singapore''A captivating, compelling story of history, family loyalty, and personal sacrifice. A fascinating and richly textured multigenerational tale'' Charmaine Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of Black Cake''I would learn that when families tell stories, what they leave out re-defines what they keep in. With my family, these were not secrets intentionally withheld. Just truths too painful to confront . . .''________In the last years of her life, Teresa Lim''s mother, Violet Chang, had copies of a cherished family photograph made for those in the portrait who were still alive. On the back is the place and date: Hong Kong, 1935.Teresa would often look at this photograph, enticed by the fierceness and beauty of her great-aunt Fanny looking back at her. But Fanny never seemed to feature in the told and retold family stories. Why? she wondered.This photograph set Teresa on a journey to uncover her family''s remarkable history. Through detective work, serendipity, and the kindness of strangers, she was guided to the fascinating, extraordinary life of her great-aunt and her world of sworn spinsters, ghost husbands and the working-class feminists of 19th century south China.But to recover her great-aunt''s past, we first must get to know Fanny''s family, the times and circumstances in which they lived, and the momentous yet forgotten conflicts that would lead to war in Singapore and, ultimately, a long-buried family tragedy.________ The Interpreter''s Daughter is a beautifully moving record of an extraordinary family history. For fans of Wild Swans, The Hare With Amber Eyes, and Falling Leaves this is the next classic in the making.Trade ReviewA captivating, compelling story of history, family loyalty, and personal sacrifice... Teresa Lim's quest to uncover a hidden chapter in her family's history makes for a fascinating and richly textured, multigenerational tale * Charmaine Wilkerson, author of Black Cake *A captivating family history. Lim vividly recreates Singapore in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and lucidly explains historical matters and cultural traditions * Publisher's Weekly *Rich in the little-discussed history of Singaporean Chinese, this multigenerational memoir offers a timeless tale of the quest for identity, wholeness and truth. An eloquently enlightening family history * Kirkus Reviews *'A wonderful portrait of a family. One for lovers of Wild Swans. Hats off to Teresa Lim' -- Hope Adams

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Book Synopsis ''A fine and deeply affecting work of history and memoir'' Philippe SandsDecades ago, the historian Bernard Wasserstein set out to uncover the hidden past of the town forty miles west of Lviv where his family originated: Krakowiec (Krah-KOV-yets). In this book he recounts its dramatic and traumatic history. ''I want to observe and understand how some of the great forces that determined the shape of our times affected ordinary people.'' The result is an exceptional, often moving book.Wasserstein traces the arc of history across centuries of religious and political conflict, as armies of Cossacks, Turks, Swedes and Muscovites rampaged through the region. In the Age of Enlightenment, the Polish magnate Ignacy Cetner built his palace at Krakowiec and, with his vivacious daughter, Princess Anna, created an arcadia of refinement and serenity. Under the Habsburg emperors after 1772, Krakowiec developed into a typical shtetl, with a jostling populationTrade ReviewA fine and deeply affecting work of history and memoir -- Philippe SandsThis poignant journey of discovery provides some profound insights into how hatred can be incited and manipulated to destroy communities, and is all too relevant to what is happening in the region today. -- Adam Zamoyskiextraordinarily moving ... Though he has been thinking about the story and researching it for decades, the writing feels immediate. The book is part memoir, part history lesson about 'old Europe' as a battleground between four empires, and part lament for the lost world of European Jewry. Perhaps the most valuable thing about it for British readers is its reminder of how lucky we are to have welcomed refugees to our shores and not to have exported them. Wasserstein has a deep understanding of places where borders have violently changed every couple of generations and whole populations have been massacred as a result of ideology, religion or whim. -- Victor Sebestyen * Spectator *This formidable book takes pride of place among the growing corpus of literature coming out of the swampy bloodlands. If you want to understand why hate has been unleashed again in Europe, this is the indispensable guide -- Roger Boyes * The Times *Using the lens of his own family's betrayal, Bernard Wasserstein's A Small Town in Ukraine revisits one of the country's darkest moments ... revelatory and dramatic ... [a] noble, nicely detailed enterprise of historical and familial recovery -- Julian Evans * The Telegraph *he employs a microscope to portray the fates of many through an account of very few. Near the scene of his grandparents' murder, he found a memorial to Ukrainian nationalists executed by the Russians after the Second World War more prominent than a plaque commemorating the vastly larger number of dead Jews, "as if to assert that Ukrainians, not Jews, were the true victims of this history and would have the last word". His anger is just, his book a finer monument than any plaque. -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *This is a deeply moving book, beautifully written, all the sadder now that refugees are again trudging those same roads. -- Lucy Beckett * The Tablet *a compelling history, which pays tribute to his ancestors while raising issues that remain tragically relevant today ... alongside this touching personal material, Wasserstein's book vividly traces how what was once a Polish town became 'a predominantly Jewish one' by around 1800 and is 'now almost entirely Ukrainian'. ... among its many other virtues, this book is a sharp reminder of the dangers of turning history into a simplistic morality tale -- Matthew Reisz * Observer *The personal thread of his own family's experiences lends warmth and tragedy to the facts that he meticulously documents. ... succeed[s] in putting a human face to the suffering of ordinary people trapped in the turmoil of physical conflict and political ideologies ... steadfastly refuse[s] to airbrush the past -- Rebecca Abrams * Financial Times *We believe that we think with our minds. But a part of us - a deep and important part - thinks with the blood. Our sense of self is deeply entwined with the places we came from and the people who formed us. ... For the historian Bernard Wasserstein, that origin story includes the violence, injustice and trauma suffered by his family at the hands of the Nazis. But A Small Town in Ukraine is more than just a family biography. It is Wasserstein's attempt not just to chronicle the suffering experienced by his parents and grandparents but also to understand it. His method is to examine, in minute and forensic detail, the history of the place from which they came, the small town of Krakowiec - 'a little place, you won't have heard of it', as his father used to say. ... Wasserstein offers an evocative and detailed portrait of the world that formed his grandfather's and ancestors' lives. ... his book is a moving chronicle of a lost world, written with eloquence and emotional intelligence but without bitterness -- Owen Matthews * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisThe author of The Ruin of All Witches returns with a gripping, vividly told journey of rediscovery, uncovering his uncle's past as a soldier, prisoner, fugitive and partisan in World War Two Italy Malcolm Gaskill knew two things about his great-uncle Ralph's wartime adventures: he'd been a prisoner in Italy, and he'd cut his way out of a train with a knife and fork. Apart from that, he'd faded into family folklore, lost to view. Until, one hot afternoon in an English country garden, a chance conversation set Gaskill on his uncle's trailWhat Ralph really did in the war was, he discovers, even more extraordinary than the exaggerations of family myth. From last-ditch fighting in the Libyan desert and incarceration in a Puglian prisoner-of-war camp, to desperate, dramatic escapes and the assuming of an entirely new identity among the peasants and partisans of the Italian alps, Gaskill traces a life transformed by conflict, while lifting the curtain on a long-forgotten episode of the Second World War.Yet The Glass Mountain is about more than war: it's a haunting exploration of what it means to encounter the past, and how we remember, forget and recover it. As he follows his uncle's path through dusty archives and the landscapes, towns and villages of present-day Italy, Gaskill finds himself confronted by questions that go to the heart of how we think about the people who came before us: Why do stories matter? How much of the past can ever be true?

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Book SynopsisA powerful, intimate memoir of Eritrean-British journalist, Hannah Azieb-Pool, who returns to Eritrea at the age of 30 to meet her family for the first time.What a story. So vivid, honest and moving'' Andrea Levy, author of Small Island''When I stepped off the plane in Asmara, I had no idea what lay ahead, or how those events would change me . . .''In her twenties, Hannah-Azieb Pool is given a letter that unravels everything she knows about her life. She knew she was adopted from an orphanage in Eritrea, and as her adoptive family brought her to the UK, they believed she did not have any surviving relatives.When she discovers the truth in a letter from her brother - that her birth father is alive and her Eritrean family are desperate to meet her - she is faced with a critical choice.Should she go?In this intimate memoir, she takes us with her on an extraordinary journey of self-discovery, as she travels to Eritr

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Book SynopsisExplorer and bestselling author Sir Ranulph Fiennes takes a journey around his vast and eccentric family tree, and reveals an amazing family history.Trade ReviewA whirlwind romp through the annals of time, peopled with the good, the bad and downright mad among the Fiennes clan. * Sunday Telegraph *Fascinating...it is some family tree * Adrian Chiles, The One Show *Praise for MAD, BAD AND DANGEROUS TO KNOW * - *'If you ever struggle to drag yourself out of bed on a winter's morning, pick up a copy of Ranulph Fiennes' autobiography. It's an inspiration.' * Mail on Sunday *'Rip-roaringly readable' * Guardian *'Even readers with a broadly low tolerance for macho heroism will find themselves gripped . . . compelling' * Time Out *'This is the memoir of a supreme sportsman, an uber-earthling who could show the Martians a thing or two about what the best of us can achieve' * Financial Times Magazine *'"Ran' epitomises British phlegm, and he puts all other glory-seekers to shame. His dry wit, self deprecation and steely determination never to feel a scrap of self-pity are in the very best tradition of British travel writing. Long may he continue tomake us glad that we are not him, while we stand in awe.' * Country Life *'Rip-roaringly readable' * Guardian *'Even readers with a broadly low tolerance for macho heroism will find themselves gripped . . . compelling' * Time Out *'It's exhausting just reading about his exploits, so it is a perfect bedtime book. It's delightful to plump up one's duck-down pillows while vicariously enduring Fiennes's successive plunges into the deadly waters of the Artcic, and his festering crotch-rot.' * Helena Drysdale, New Statesman Books of the Year *'It is lively and vivid, and often exciting as we anticipate each plunge into deadly Arctic waters. There are some wonderful throwaway lines . . . So, not an alien species after all but - as they say - a national treasure.' * Spectator *A very funny, moving and inspiriting look back at the family history of one of the greatest explorers ever to live. We all love Sir Ranulph Fiennes, he never disappoints. And this book is no exception. * Bear Grylls *

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Book SynopsisJune 14 is Flag Day, but with so many American flags proudly displayed, every day seems like Flag Day. Perfect for reading together with a young child, F Is for Flag shows in simple terms how one flag can mean many things: a symbol of unity, a sign of welcome, and a reminder that-in good times and in bad-everyone in our country is part of one great big family.

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Book Synopsis''Fascinating ... an extremely courageous work.'' The Lady''Absolutely extraordinary ... Findlay reveals a vast, hidden European story that few nations have ever been brave enough to confront'' Keith Lowe''''Beautifully written, poignant and acutely perceptive'' Sinclair McKay''Moving and powerful'' Julia Samuel......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................In My Grandfather''s Shadow is an unflinching, thought-provoking fusion of memoir and history, and an exploration of the hidden scars left across generations by the conflict and horrors of the Second World War.In a quest to discover the truth about her German grandfather, first a proud Wehrmacht General serving on the Eastern front, then a broken POW on trial for Nazi war crimes, AngeTrade ReviewA remarkable cross-pollination of memoir, psychology and history in which the author comes to grips with being the granddaughter of a Nazi general. * i Paper *Brave ... full of insights and good research. -- Caroline Moorehead * Times Literary Supplement *A compelling journey through guilt and shame that asks fundamental and painful questions about the extent of a family member's participation in one of the biggest crimes of the 20th century. -- Derek Niemann, author of A Nazi in the FamilyIn My Grandfather's Shadow is an extraordinary book. Beautifully written, poignant and acutely perceptive; endlessly thought-provoking and challenging. From the nature of wickedness to the phenomenon of epigenetics, it is also an extremely powerful and different way of seeing the vast and terrible tides of history. -- Sinclair McKay, author of Berlin, Dresden, and The Secret Life of Bletchley ParkSeeking to untangle the complexities of her own life, the author goes in search of a WW2 German general - the grandfather she never knew. The outcome is a powerful and at times painfully honest story that will touch readers at many levels. -- Julia Boyd, author of Travellers in the Third Reich and A Village in the Third Reich

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Book SynopsisIn this acclaimed memoir from the award-winning author of Fragrant Harbour and Capital, John Lanchester pieces together his family''s past and uncovers their extraordinary secrets - from his grandparents'' life in colonial Rhodesia to his mother''s time as a nun - with clear-eyed compassion. A true story of family intrigues, of secrets and lies, as they unfold across three generations.

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Book Synopsis''An unknown place.'' This was what Michael Frayn''s children called the shadowy landscape of the past from which their family had emerged. Shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards, My Father''s Fortune sets out to rediscover that lost land before all trace of it finally disappears beyond recall. As Frayn tries to see it through the eyes of his parents and the others who shaped his life, he comes to realise how little he ever knew or understood about them.This is above all the story of his father, the quick-witted boy from a poor and struggling family, who overcame disadvantages and shouldered many burdens to make a go of his life; who found happiness, had it snatched away from him, and in the end, after many difficulties, perhaps found it again.Father and son were in some ways incredibly alike, in others ridiculously different; and the journey back down the corridors of time is sometimes comic, sometimes painful, as Michael Frayn comes to see how much he has inh

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Book SynopsisA beautiful, wise book. It deals with the some of the grimmest aspects of human experience, but it is also one of the most genuinely up-lifting works I have read in years. Emma Brockes'' superb, clear-eyed narration is an object lesson for any aspiring memoir-writer. She Left Me the Gun deserves to become a classic. Zoe HellerWhen Emma Brockes was ten years old, her mother said ''One day I will tell you the story of my life and you will be amazed.'' Growing up in a tranquil English village, Emma knew very little of her mother''s life before her. She knew Paula had grown up in South Africa and had seven siblings. She had been told stories about deadly snakes and hailstones the size of golf balls. There was mention, once, of a trial. But most of the past was a mystery. When her mother dies of cancer, Emma - by then a successful journalist at the Guardian - is free to investigate the untold story. Her search begins in the Colindale liTrade ReviewA beautiful, wise book. It deals with the some of the grimmest aspects of human experience, but it is also one of the most genuinely up-lifting works I have read in years. Emma Brockes' superb, clear-eyed narration is an object lesson for any aspiring memoir-writer. She Left Me the Gun deserves to become a classic. -- Zoe Heller This astonishing, unsettling book examines the relationship between knowledge and love. Vigorously unsentimental, deeply absorbing, and written with fierce wit, It is an unstinting look at what it means to be innocent, at any stage of life, and how obsessively we all seek and avoid the many faces of truth. -- Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree She Left Me the Gun is quite simply an extraordinary book. In the hands of any halfway decent author, this would be an incredible story: a mother with a mysterious South African past who arrived in England in her early twenties with a beautiful antique handgun and a mission to forget who she used to be. In the hands of a writer as gifted as Emma Brockes, it's basically the perfect memoir: a riveting, authentic tale elegantly told. -- Viv Groskop Sunday Telegraph Emma Brockes sets out on a delicate journey to uncover a secret locked in the heart of her own family's darkness. A harrowing tale of murder and incest emerges, unfolding by stages in this utterly compelling psychological memoir. -- John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil The late Nora Ephron suggested the title for Emma Brockes' She Left Me the Gun. Ephron ... was as smart as they come in Hollywood and you only need to read the opening chapters to understand why she took such a close interest in the career of this remarkable young writer and Guardian journalist ... It isn't just the story itself that sets this book apart. Brockes's prose is potent enough to do justice to the power of her insights. And although she is very good at maintaining the tension in the detective part of the story, she has an even more important ability to keep up the emotional suspense. Ephron, her mentor, would have approved. -- Christena Appleyard Literary Review [A] courageous, clear-sighted book, which shifts between memoir and elegy as it examines the persistence of family secrets and the fragile interface between innocence and knowledge. -- Elizabeth Lowry Guardian The resulting memoir is an exemplary family history and immensely brave. It is one thing to delve into dusty archives in Pretoria, "each page containing the split-second possibility of an explosion in my face", but quite another to sit with aunts and uncles you've never met ("a wacky bunch") and ask them to recall a childhood lived in fear and that was exposed in court ... Brockes's descriptions of South Africa and her newly discovered family (towards whom she is loyal and generously affectionate) are astute and, one feels, tempered by the tightly coiled wayward nature of the freshly grief-stricken. It makes the slow pace of the revelations all the more honourable and heartfelt. The result is a wise, tender letter of love to a mother and her incredible sense of love and -necessary self-sufficiency. -- Helen Davies Sunday Times An amazing and harrowing story. In Emma Brockes's consummate, Joan Didionesque prose, it becomes a surpassingly rich meditation on family, endurance, secrecy, trauma, guilt, strength and love ... Intensely personal, but it is also a beautifully written and, ultimately, a redemptive book: deeply impressive, deeply painful, deeply true. -- Kevin Power Sunday Business Post She Left Me The Gun is a triumph for three reasons. The first is the voice. Brockes is often very funny ... Then there is the material itself - not just the story of Paula's childhood but that of the lives of her extraordinary siblings ... Finally, there is Brockes's fearlessness and her resistance to glib interpretation of the facts that are often tantalisingly opaque. -- Claire Lowdon New Statesman Here we have a memoir, detective story and love letter revolving around a violent alcoholic and paedophile - the author's grandfather. Jimmy's crimes and their repercussions were so horrendous that at times one physically recoils from the page. It is a measure of Emma Brockes's artfulness and sensitivity that she has fashioned her material into an enjoyable narrative. -- Sara Wheeler Observer The story itself is a total wow - thrilling, dark, brave and so intense that if it were fiction no-one would believe it. But the writing itself is just so crisp and insightful... I'm not sure I'd have the bravery to read my way through the narrative if it weren't for Emma Brockes's own strength and trustworthiness as a narrator. -- Bidisha The fantastic She Left Me the Gun ... this consummate piece of writing, originating from the death of her mother, manages to encompass memoir, family history, travel writing, investigative journalism and a moving meditation on grief and loss ... Heartbreaking and inspiring in equal measure. -- Doug Johnstone Big Issue in Scotland

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Book SynopsisThis book is the ideal companion for anybody researching their family tree. It provides advice and inspiration on methods and problem-solving and helps the amateur family historian understand what successful professionals do to get results, and why we should copy them. Over ten chapters, it examines the various themes that affect the success or failure of all genealogy research. This begins with an overview of common challenges genealogists encounter and continues with an examination of how to both search effectively and find the right documentary sources. Using examples from her own family history as well as client work, teacher and professional genealogist Helen Osborn demonstrates how to get the most from documents, analyze problems and build research plans. These subjects lead on to recording results, how to ensure relationships are correctly proved, organizing information and presenting your findings. Although the book deals mainly with research in England and Wales, the skills ta

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Book SynopsisTrade Review" Kirsty Wilkinson's guide is recommended for anyone with Scottish relations in their tree. It is an appealing, well-produced and valuable book that provides its own comprehensive insight into sources and research techniques. " * Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine *

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Book SynopsisAccessible in style and comprehensive in coverage, this illuminating guide to discovering your Scottish family history has been fully revised and updated to take account of changes to resources and methods for researching your Scottish ancestry.Table of ContentsForeword; Introduction; 1: Gathering Information from your Family; 2: Recording and Storing Information; 3: Basic Sources for Family History; 4: Supplementary Sources; 5: Family History and the Internet; 6: Historical Information; 7: Historical Sources Pre-1855; 8: Presenting your Family History; 9: Family Heritage; 10: DNA, Genetics, Health and Family Medical History; Appendices; 1: English, Welsh and Irish records; 2: Interpreting older forms of handwriting; List of Websites; List of Useful Addresses; Sample forms for Obtaining and Recording Information; Bibliography; Index

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Book SynopsisAccessible in style and comprehensive in coverage, this illuminating guide to discovering your Scottish family history has been fully revised and updated to take account of changes to resources and methods for researching your Scottish ancestry.Table of ContentsForeword; Introduction; 1: Gathering Information from your Family; 2: Recording and Storing Information; 3: Basic Sources for Family History; 4: Supplementary Sources; 5: Family History and the Internet; 6: Historical Information; 7: Historical Sources Pre-1855; 8: Presenting your Family History; 9: Family Heritage; 10: DNA, Genetics, Health and Family Medical History; Appendices; 1: English, Welsh and Irish records; 2: Interpreting older forms of handwriting; List of Websites; List of Useful Addresses; Sample forms for Obtaining and Recording Information; Bibliography; Index

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Book SynopsisGenealogist Keith Gregson takes the reader on a whistle-stop tour of quirky family stories and strange ancestors rooted out by amateur and professional family historians. Each lively entry tells the story behind each discovery and then offers a brief insight into how the researcher found and then followed up their leads, revealing a range of chance encounters and the detective qualities required of a family historian. For example, one researcher discovered that his great-great-grandfather, as a child, was carried across the main street of West Hartlepool on the back of the famous tightrope walker Blondin. The Victorian newspaper report said that the rope had been tied between two chimney pots. Research into the author's own family revealed that one of his nineteenth-century ancestors lost his leg in a Midlands coal-mining accident, and that the amputated leg was buried in the local cemetery to be joined by the rest of him on his final demise. A Viking in the Family is full of similar

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Book SynopsisIn Search of a Better Life challenges the traditional histories of British and Irish migration, the stories of oppression and exile that form an essential part of the existing literature. By no means were all migrants forced to leave their country by circumstances; many looked forward to a better life abroad. They were largely opportunists rather than victims, whether financed by the state or by landlords or philanthropists, or, as was the case for the majority, by themselves or their families. This was a huge movement of people that formed part of a European exodus to the New World. In placing British and Irish migration alongside each other, there is recognition of the commonalities among both sets of emigrants that will surprise many readers. The poor condition of labourers in 1840s Dorset and Wiltshire were akin to those found in County Cork during the Famine years. British and Irish emigrants were commonly found on the same ships en route to the Americas and Australasia, both settling in predominantly English-speaking countries. With case studies by a variety of contributors, set within the broader context of current scholarship, this compilation features new research on a popular subject which still resonates today. It will prove particularly useful for family historians.

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Book SynopsisMany of us have a curiosity about our family history, and may even have dabbled in research online or through our own family network. But for those of us who want to know what our ancestors were really like, how they lived and what their daily struggles and experiences were, the key often lies in our own county.In Worcestershire: A Family History Guidebook, professional local genealogist Vanessa Morgan takes us on a fascinating and easy-to-follow journey from deciding to research your Worcestershire ancestors right through to discovering more about how they lived and worked. What influence did industry have in their lives? Who were their employers? What historical events would have affected them? Family history isn't just about names and dates; this book will help you to put the flesh on bones.

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Book SynopsisUncover the hidden histories and record the timeless tales of your loved ones in the Family Secrets Journal. Dig deep into what makes your family''s story unique with this deluxe hardcover guided journal. Filled with dozens of prompts for amateur genealogists, this thoughtful keepsake guides you through the journey of recording the colorful details of your lineage. From immigration tales and treasured recipes to laugh-out-loud jokes and special celebrations, the Family Secrets Journal opens up a world of conversations with your loved ones, as you capture important memories. A perfect companion to family trees and genealogy results, the Family Secrets Journal lets you uncover the heart and soul of your family''s story.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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