Essential Genealogy Books For Family Historians

For every family history buff, a well-stocked bookshelf is vitally important to help your research. Most of the following genealogy books can be found at your local library, but having them on hand can benefit you when you feel you need help locating a type of record or figuring out where to look next.


Ancestral Trails The Complete Guide to British Genealogy and Family History, Volume ll by Mark Herber.

Likely the definative book for those doing English research, Herber's book has been a part of my own personal collection since it first appeared. The book is the sequel to Herber's previous edition and is described as "bigger and better with the new and expanded edition" and it is also available in paperback (as shown to the left). The book includes advice and guidance for those researching the often overwhelming British archives, and digging into various records such as personal recollections, photographs and other memorabilia to civil, legal and religious records, newspapers and directories.

The book helps the beginner genealogist as well as being invaluable to the more advanced researcher.


The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th edition, by George B. Everton.

Exactly as described, Everton's Handybook is a primary resource for anyone doing research in the United States.

The book is broken down state by state, with numerous helpful maps outlining state and county boundary changes through the years, as well as useful information about everthing from the availablity of census records, to local libraries and genealogical sources. One of the first places any beginner should look as well as seasoned family historians.


The Source - A Guidebook to American Genealogy Published by Ancestry.com. Edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking

Ancestry.com's excellent guide to both online and offline sources of genealogical records.

Each chapter covers one area of research such as census records, church records, court records, city and other directories, immigration records, land records, military records, newspapers, and vital records. Special guides include: African American research, colonial English, colonial Spanish (for Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas), Hispanic, Jewish American and Native American.

Obviously these three books only scratch the surface of what is available to genealogists and you should keep an eye out for other family history books that can help you trace your ancestry.

How Do I Get Started On My Family History?

If you are new to family history, or you are unsure what to do next to move ahead in your research, there are some basic guides that you might want to take a look at. Most are available at you local library or bookstore, but if you want, you can pick them up from Amazon.com or other online stores. The two books that I usually recommend when asked what books I would read if I was starting out are Genealogy Online For Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy. To be honest, even though I have been doing genealogical research for almost 40 years, I still read these books because they give a fresh way of looking at the problems all family historians face when researching their ancestors. And disregard the titles of the books. They may claim they are for "Idiot's" and "Dummies", which is somewhat condescending, but they are first-rate beginner's guides to the field of genealogy.

One thing that you definitely want to do when you are starting out is to read EVERYTHING you can on the subject of genealogy. Go to your local library, find the genealogy section and go through every possible resource you can get your hands on. That's what I did when I started out. At that time the genealogy section was kind of small, and there was no Internet so progress was extremely slow. The number of web sites devoted to online family history research is growing by leaps and bounds. Other than reading many of the great books available on the subject, visit genealogy websites (such as GenTips of course) because there are now so many people putting their own family histories online and providing excellent genealogy tips and resources that can help you in your own research.

Why I Got Into This Crazy Genealogy Hobby

I've been tracing my family history for over 30 years now and I've seen it all. I began before the internet which has revolutionized the hobby and turned it into a business. I remember doing an outline for the genealogy book I wanted to write when I was just 14 years old (I knew I wouldn't take that step at that time, but the desire was there).

Now I'm blogging about genealogy and creating cool (in my own humble opinion) webpages for the world and distant relatives to enjoy. Thirty years later I'm still in love with the quest and I'm consumed with pushing back my lines even further. I don't think I'll ever become jaded with this pasttime and look forward to whatever the next changes occur. I was once the young kid peering at microfilm at the local library getting some help from older genealogists. Now I'm the older guy lending a hand to newbies in the field. I hope I can help.

Now, if I can just dig up that old outline, maybe I'll get that book published!

Ancestral Trails: An Excellent Book For English Research

Ancestral Trails is by for one of the best genealogy books for those doing research in England. It's almost like a family history bible containing information about almost everything you would want to know about all sorts of records and research material available in English genealogical research.

Already in it's second edition, the book is described as "the complete guide to British genealogy and family history." Written by Mark D. Herber, it is well written and very enjoyable to read. Herber provides how-to information using examples from his own family tree research to illustrate various different records and methods of research. Very highly recommended.