"Recommended as the most comprehensive how-to book on American
genealogical and local history research."--Library Journal
In every field of study there is one book that rises above the rest in
stature and authority and becomes the standard work in the field. In genealogy
that book is Val Greenwood's Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy.
Arguably the best book ever written on American genealogy, it is the text of
choice in colleges and universities or wherever courses in American genealogy
are taught. Of the dozens of textbooks, manuals, and how-to books that have
appeared over the past twenty-five years, it is the one book that is
consistently praised for setting a standard of excellence.
In a word, The Researcher's Guide has become a classic. While it
instructs the researcher in the timeless principles of genealogical research, it
also identifies the various classes of records employed in that research, groups
them in convenient tables and charts, gives their location, explains their uses,
and evaluates each of them in the context of the research process. Designed to
answer practically all the researcher's needs, it is both a textbook and an
all-purpose reference book. And it is this singular combination that makes The
Researcher's Guide the book of choice in any genealogical investigation. It
is also the reason why if you can afford to buy only one book on American
genealogy in a lifetime, this has to be it.
This new 3rd edition incorporates the latest thinking on genealogy and
computers, specifically the relationship between computer technology (the
Internet and CD-ROM) and the timeless principles of good genealogical research.
It also includes a new chapter on the property rights of women, a revised
chapter on the evaluation of genealogical evidence, and updated information on
the 1920 census. Little else has changed, or needs to be changed, because the
basics of genealogy remain timeless and immutable. This 3rd edition of The
Researcher's Guide, then, is a clear, comprehensive, and up-to-date account
of the methods and aims of American genealogy--an essential text for the present
generation of researchers--and no sound genealogical project is complete without
it.
EDITORIAL REVIEWS
"Greenwood's guide has long been regarded as the best of its kind, a text
and reference work for anyone who is doing American genealogical research beyond
the beginner's level...Purchase of Greenwood's guide is recommended to any
serious genealogist, and every genealogical library should have this latest
edition on its shelves."--THE NEW YORK GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL
RECORD (July 2000), p. 229.
"...this work is still the single best reference and text for the serious
beginning genealogist."--AMERICAN REFERENCE BOOKS ANNUAL (1991).
"Greenwood's book is easy to read and covers a broad enough spectrum of
resources that readers are equipped to get started with a minimum investment of
study time. For those who want to learn how to build pedigrees and reconstruct
family groups, tying them from one generation to the next, this book is an
excellent guide...This book also has value to other researchers. Historians,
demographers, and sociologists studying people in the past will find that this
book will provide important guidance in assessing which records will provide the
facts needed. Government document librarians will appreciate having this book to
refer to in answering questions about censuses and other sources created by
national and state government. It is still one of the best guidebooks on
genealogical research available. It is an important title to include in
collections of libraries with patrons interested in genealogical research."--GOVERNMENT
PUBLICATIONS REVIEW, Vol. 18 (1991).
"Seventeen years ago this Reviewer wrote: 'It is impossible to recommend
this book too highly. It is indispensable for anyone interested in genealogical
research.' The verdict stands."--THE VIRGINIA GENEALOGIST, Vol. 34, No.
3 (July-September 1990).
"...this modestly priced classic remains the outstanding text on American
genealogy. It belongs in every library whose patrons explore genealogy."--LIBRARY
JOURNAL (April 1, 1990).
