This comprehensive guide has useful information for anyone interested in family history, whether just beginning or well-involved in genealogical research. The main work is divided into five parts, each covering a broad step of research - Beginning the Quest, Filling the Gaps, Understanding the Fine Print, Special Circumstances, and Going Global. Each of these sections are further broken down into short, easy-to-digest segments. The middle three focus on record types and locations a genealogist would find useful in his/her search, including both common, basic records such as marriage records and some you may not have thought of, such as maritime and employer records. Each record type is broken down in such a way that allows you to skip the portions that don't apply - I often skipped the Australian records information, for example. Special Circumstances covers such things as adoption, indigenous populations, and African-American ancestry, and other particularly challenging aspects of research.

The format of this book makes it a handy reference to have on hand, but difficult to read cover-to-cover. I either got distracted with ideas for further exploring my family tree or felt my eyes glaze over after reading about several record types in a row. I loved the inclusion of photographic and documentary examples, along with captions that point out items for further research. On occasion, in the boxes set apart from the main test, bullet points did not line up with the list items. Still, this is a small annoyance in a really useful tool for both getting started and getting ideas for what to research when you're stuck. ( )