As a young boy growing up in Port Elizabeth in the 1960s and 1970s, Steven Robins was haunted by an old postcard-size photograph of three unknown women on a table in the dining room. Only later did he learn that the women were his father’s mother and sisters, photographed in Berlin in 1937, before they were killed in the Holocaust. Steven’s father, who had fled Nazi Germany before it was too late, never spoke about the fate of his family who remained there. Steven became obsessed with finding out what happened to the women, but had little to go on. In time he stumbled on bare facts in museums in Washington DC and Berlin, and later he discovered over a hundred letters sent to his father and uncle from the family in Berlin between 1936 and 1943. The women who before had been unnamed faces in a photograph could now tell their story to future generations.

Letters of Stone tracks Steven’s journey of discovery about the lives and fates of the Robinski family. It is also a book about geographical journeys: to the Karoo town of Williston, where his father’s uncle settled in the late nineteenth century and became mayor; to Berlin, where Steven laid ‘stumbling stones’ (Stolpersteine) in commemoration of his family and other Jewish victims of the Holocaust; to Auschwitz, where his father’s siblings perished.

Most of all, this book is a poignant reconstruction of a family trapped in an increasingly terrifying and deadly Nazi state, and of the immense pressure on Steven’s father in faraway South Africa, which forced him to retreat into silence.

A panoramic new history of modern Britain, as told through the story of one extraordinary family, and one groundbreaking company.

In the early 1800s, Lehmann Gluckstein and his family escaped the pogroms of Eastern Europe and made their way to Whitechapel in London’s East End. There, starting with nothing, they worked tirelessly to pull themselves out of poverty, creating a small tobacco factory that grew to become the largest catering company in the world: J. Lyons.

For over a century, Lyons was on every high street, in every home, in every coffee and teacup. It was an ascent from rags to riches in the face of many obstacles: poverty, hatred and anti-Semitism stood between this poor immigrant family and the British Dream.

Legacy charts the rise and fall of one of the most influential dynasties in British history through the lives of five astonishing generations. Both sweeping and intimate, it is a story of sacrifice and selflessness, betrayal and personal tragedy, and Empire and its cost. It is also an illuminating new exploration of Britain and its place in the world, from the bestselling author of Hanns and Rudolf and The House by the Lake.

A new illustrated story celebrating the poppy's history. Michael Morpurgo and Michael Foreman have teamed up with the Royal British Legion to tell an original story that explains the meaning behind the poppy. In Flanders' fields, young Martens knows his family's story, for it is as precious as the faded poem hanging in their home. From a poor girl comforting a grieving soldier, to an unexpected meeting of strangers, to a father's tragic death many decades after treaties were signed, war has shaped Martens's family in profound ways - it is their history as much as any nation's. They remember. They grieve. They honour the past. This book also includes a full-colour, illustrated afterword that explains the history that inspired the story. 1 per hardback from the sale of POPPY FIELD in the UK will be paid to Royal British Legion Trading Limited which gives its taxable profits to The Royal British Legion (Charity no. 219279)

Can trauma be inherited? It is this question that sets Alex Halberstadt off on a quest to name and acknowledge a legacy of family trauma, and to end a cycle of estrangement that had endured for nearly a century. His search takes him across the troubled, enigmatic land of his birth. In Ukraine he tracks down his paternal grandfather - most likely the last living bodyguard of Joseph Stalin - to reckon with the ways in which decades of Soviet totalitarianism shaped and fractured three generations of his family. He returns to Lithuania, his Jewish mother's home, to revisit the legacy of the Holocaust and the pernicious anti-Semitism that remains largely unaccounted for, learning that the boundary between history and biography is often fragile and indistinct. And he visits his birthplace, Moscow, where his glamorous grandmother designed homespun couture for Soviet ministers' wives, his mother dosed dissidents at a psychiatric hospital, and his father made a living by selling black-market jazz and rock records. Finally, Halberstadt explores his own story: that of a fatherless immigrant who arrived in America, to a housing project in Queens, New York, as a ten-year-old boy struggling with identity, feelings of rootlessness and a yearning for home. He comes to learn that he was merely the latest in a lineage of sons who grew up alone, separated from their fathers by the tides of politics and history. As Halberstadt revisits the sites of his family's formative traumas, he uncovers a multigenerational transmission of fear, suspicion, melancholy, and rage. And he comes to realize something more: nations, like people, possess formative traumas that penetrate into the most private recesses of their citizens' lives.

An updated edition of the perfect do-it-yourself memoir that helps you record and preserve the experiences and knowledge of a lifetime for years to come. Divided into Early, Middle, and Later Years, this keepsake volume contains 201 questions that guide you through the process of keeping memories on subjects such as family and friends, learning and education, work and responsibilities, and the world around you. Created by a grandson and grandfather, The Book of Myself is the perfect way for you, or someone close to you, to remember the turning points and everyday recollections of a lifetime and share them with future generations. The new edition has been updated with reordered questions to start with more objective, easy-to-answer prompts, then move to reflective queries, followed by deeper interpretive questions. It also includes aunts, uncles, and those who did not have children.

"Phillip Hamilton has written a concise, gripping study that depicts how the American Revolution affected an elite southern family, largely for the worse." -- "Journal of Southern History "

"This excellent study is both eminently readable and educational, and it is an important contribution to understanding the dynamics of leadership and of family life in Virginia following the American Revolution." -- "Virginia Libraries "

"Much more than a family history, this volume adds to our knowledge of the social, economic, and political landscapes of the Old Dominion from the late colonial era through the antebellum period. This book is recommended for those interested in the history of Virginia, the early republic, the South, and family history." -- "North Carolina Historical Review "

In 1814, John Randolph of Roanoke brooded over his family's decline since the American Revolution. The once-sumptuous world of the Virginia gentry was vanishing, its kinship ties crumbling along with its mansions. Looking back in an effort to grasp the changes around him, Randolph fixated on his stepfather and one-time guardian, the jurist St. George Tucker. Although Tucker had fought during the Revolution, he grasped the significant changes the war had brought to the Old Dominion. Thus he sold his plantations and urged his children to pursue careers in learned professions. Tucker's stepson John Randolph bitterly disagreed, precipitating a painful break between the two men.

Drawing upon an extraordinary archive of manuscript materials, Phillip Hamilton illustrates how two generations of a colorful and influential family adapted to social upheaval. He finds that the Tuckers eventually rejected widerfamily connections and turned instead to nuclear kin. They also abandoned the liberal principles and enlightened rationalism of the Revolution for a romanticism girded by deep social conservatism. "The Making and Unmaking of a Revolutionary Family "reveals the complex process by which the world of Washington and Jefferson evolved into the antebellum society of Edmund Ruffin and Thomas Dew.

Phillip Hamilton is Associate Professor of History at Christopher Newport University.

Jeffersonian America

Part cookbook, part culinary history, part family history, this volume offers an intimate glimpse into life in the household of a mid-19th-century Virginia family, that of the author's great-grandparents, Robert E. Lee and his wife, Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee. The collection of recipes, photographs, shopping lists and other domestic jottings act as a window on an earlier way of life. Filled with family stories and photographs, it features 70 recipes for breads, cakes, puddings, sweets, soups, main dishes, vegetables, drinks, and home remedies. Each historic recipes is accompanied by notes on ingredients and techinques and by tips for adapting the recipe in the modern kitchen.

Who are we, and where do we come from? The fundamental drive to answer these questions is at the heart of Finding Your Roots, the companion book to the hit PBS documentary series. As scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. clearly demonstrates, the tools of cutting-edge genomics and deep genealogical research now allow us to learn more about our roots and look further back in time than ever before. In the second season, Gates's investigation takes on the personal and genealogical histories of more than twenty luminaries, including Tina Fey, Ken Burns, Deepak Chopra, and Sally Field, among others. As Gates interlaces these moving stories of immigration, assimilation, strife, and success, he provides practical information for amateur genealogists just beginning archival research on their own families' roots and details the advances in genetic research now available to the public. The result is an illuminating exploration of who we are, how we lost track of our roots, and how we can find them again.

The story of a federal minister's remarkable reunion with his birth parents. Robert Tickner had always known he was adopted, but had rarely felt much curiosity about his origins. Born in 1951, he had a happy childhood--raised by his loving adoptive parents, Bert and Gwen Tickner, in the small seaside town of Forster, New South Wales. He grew up to be a cheerful and confident young man with a fierce sense of social justice, and the desire and stamina to make political change. Serving in the Hawke and Keating governments, he held the portfolio of minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs. Among other achievements while in government, he was responsible for initiating the reconciliation process with Indigenous Australians, and he was instrumental in instigating the national inquiry into the stolen generations. During his time on the front bench, Robert's son was born, and it was his deep sense of connection to this child that moved him at last to turn his attention to the question of his own birth. Although he had some sense of the potentially life-changing course that lay ahead of him, he could not have anticipated learning of the exceptional nature of the woman who had brought him into the world, the deep scars that his forced adoption had left on her, and the astonishing series of coincidences that had already linked their lives. And this was only the first half of a story that was to lead to a reunion with his birth father and siblings. This deeply moving memoir is a testament to the significance of all forms of family in shaping us--and to the potential for love to heal great harm.

Record Your Family History! From the editors of Family Tree Magazine, this workbook makes it easy to record and organize your family history. Family Tree Memory Keeper helps you keep track of basic genealogy information and special family memories, including traditions, heirloom histories, family records, newsworthy moments, family migrations and immigrations, old recipes, important dates, and much more. This book features: Dozens of fill-in pages to record all your essential family information. Convenient paperback format for writing and photocopying pages. Space for mounting photographs. Maps to mark your family's migration routes. Tips for researching your family history. A comprehensive list of additional resources. Use Family Tree Memory Keeper to log your genealogy research. Bring it to family get-togethers to gather and share information. Create an invaluable record of your ancestry for future generations.

An exciting new edition of Bella Bathurst's epic story of Robert Louis Stevenson's ancestors and the building of the Scottish coastal lighthouses against impossible odds. 'Whenever I smell salt water, I know that I am not far from one of the works of my ancestors,' wrote Robert Louis Stevenson in 1880. 'When the lights come out at sundown along the shores of Scotland, I am proud to think they burn more brightly for the genius of my father!' Robert Louis Stevenson was the most famous of the Stevensons, but not by any means the most productive. The Lighthouse Stevensons, all four generations of them, built every lighthouse round Scotland, were responsible for a slew of inventions in both construction and optics, and achieved feats of engineering in conditions that would be forbidding even today. The same driven energy which Robert Louis Stevenson put into writing, his ancestors put into lighting the darkness of the seas. The Lighthouse Stevensons is a story of high endeavour, beautifully told; indeed, this is one of the most celebrated works of historical biography in recent memory.

Irons in the Fire chronicles the agricultural, industrial, and commercial activities of four generations of the Tayloe family of Northern Virginia, revealing a greater complexity in the southern business culture of early America than scholars have generally recognized. Through the story of one representative family, Laura Croghan Kamoie illustrates how entrepreneurship and a broadly skilled slave-labor force combined to create economic diversification well before the American Revolution. Contrary to general historical perceptions, southern elite planters were, at least until the 1790s, very like their northern counterparts.

The Tayloes were planters and businessmen who, crucially, saw no distinction or conflict between these two roles. In this they were not unique: diversification, combined with an entrepreneurial inclination among the elite of the planter class, formed the basis of the Chesapeake's regional economy and contributed to its development.

This diversity was reflected in the slave community. Demonstrating a versatility exceeding later generations of slaves, and occupying a central position in the daily operations of the South's business culture, the Chesapeake slaves made the planters' relatively sophisticated enterprises not only profitable but possible.

Spanning more than a century of early American history, the story begins in 1700, when John Tayloe I managed the family's concerns, and concludes with his six great-grandsons, who lived into the Civil War era. Through the generations, the Tayloes demonstrated the same essential qualities--enterprise, risk-taking, business savvy, innovation, ambition, and pursuit of profit--as their northern counterparts. As the eighteenth century ended, however, cotton plantation agriculture--and, in Virginia, the internal slave trade in support of it--increasingly began to take over, working against economic diversification.

Irons in the Fire provides an exceptional view of early American business, each generation of Tayloes approaching the family's welfare within the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of their day. This business-family saga also contributes a pivotal perspective to contemporary debates about the economic modernity of the South.

Studying dress history teaches us much about the past. In this skilfully-illustrated, accessible and authoritative book, Jayne Shrimpton demonstrates how fashion and clothes represent the everyday experiences of earlier generations, illuminating the world in which they lived. As Britain evolved during the 1800s from a slow-paced agrarian society into an urban-industrial nation, dress was transformed. Traditional rural styles declined and modern city modes, new workwear and holiday gear developed. Women sewed at home, while shopping advanced, novel textiles and mass-produced goods bringing affordable fashion to ordinary people. Many of our predecessors worked as professional garment-makers, laundresses or in other related trades: close to fashion production, as consumers they looked after their clothes. The author explains how, understanding the social significance of dress, the Victorians observed strict etiquette through special costumes for Sundays, marriage and mourning. Poorer families struggled to maintain standards, but young single workers spent their wages on clothes, the older generation cultivating their own discreet style. Twentieth-century dress grew more relaxed and democratic as popular culture influenced fashion for recent generations who enjoyed sport, cinema, music and dancing.

Since her groundbreaking memoir In My Father's House, which recounts an agonizing break from fundamentalist polygamy, Dorothy Allred Solomon has continued to publish on the lives of Mormon women and the dissonance many experience in connection to fundamentalist pasts. The more Solomon delved into issues of agency, the more she felt her own dissonance and began to look for answers in her ancestral past-those early women she knew only through family stories. Finding Karen: An Ancestral Mystery springs from a decade of research into Solomon's paternal great-great grandmother Karen Sorensen Rasmussen, who converted to Mormonism in Denmark and emigrated to the United States in 1859. Held up to Solomon throughout childhood as an icon of feminine heroism, a stoic handcart immigrant who helped establish Zion in Utah, Karen became equally emblematic of Solomon's own strong-willed determination and of everything Solomon found lacking in herself. Finding Karen is a revelatory journey, twinned with Solomon's own in surprising ways. As valuable a study in recovering history as it is in the need to re-examine family stories, Solomon's retelling takes readers through the twists and turns of discovery/recovery as she encounters them. In doing so, she illuminates not only the risk inherent in trusting even what persists as historic record but also the insights to be gained from assiduous persistence.

This is the story of Watson Mithlo, Chiricahua Apache, his family, and his life. Watson's story embodies the life of the Chiricahua Apache people, who in 1886 were forced into exile to Fort Marion, Florida, by the US government and considered prisoners of war until 1914. This story tells Watson's lived history as the Chiricahua were relocated from Arizona to Florida to Alabama and finally to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. But this is also a story of Harry Mithlo, Watson's son, and Conger Beasley, Harry's friend. It is a story of telling a story. The three voices that serve as our narrators--Watson, Harry, and Conger--all contribute information and emotions, caught up in a kind of ongoing, never-ending, simultaneous present. This story is a composite, a mosaic, a song. It is imbued with oral tradition, Apache medicine, and the dance of the Chiricahua Mountain Spirits. Through Watson, Harry, and Conger, one man's life becomes a circle, blending history with the sacred in the telling of a distinctly Native story.

WINNER OF THE COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018 WINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 2018 A SUNDAY TIMES PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR 2019 'A masterpiece of history and memoir' Evening Standard 'Superb. This is a necessary book - painful, harrowing, tragic, but also uplifting' The Times __________________________________________________ Little Lien wasn't taken from her Jewish parents in the Hague - she was given away in the hope that she might be saved. Hidden and raised by a foster family in the provinces during the Nazi occupation, she survived the war only to find that her real parents had not. Much later, she fell out with her foster family, and Bart van Es - the grandson of Lien's foster parents - knew he needed to find out why. His account of tracing Lien and telling her story is a searing exploration of two lives and two families. It is a story about love and misunderstanding and about the ways that our most painful experiences - so crucial in defining us - can also be redefined. ___________________________________________________ 'Luminous, elegant, haunting - I read it straight through' Philippe Sands, author of East West Street 'Deeply moving. Writes with an almost Sebaldian simplicity and understatement' Guardian 'Sensational and gripping . . . shedding light on some of the most urgent issues of our time' Judges of the Costa Book of the Year 2018

This title helps the reader understand how to go about researching their family tree, starting with the basics.

This book is the result of 45 years of part-time research into the Shropshire Speake families. It describes the history of the author's family through thirteen generations, as well as all other associated Shropshire Speake families. In some cases it follows them across the nearby border into Wales, and the possible reasons for their migration. It focuses on the period prior to the advent of census returns and the civil registration of births, marriage and deaths in the early nineteenth century. Prior to this date research becomes more difficult and time consuming, and the aim of this book is to help Speake family researchers to link their family trees back to this earlier period. This approach has enabled this book to be kept a reasonable size. It is the story of periods of prosperity in the late sixteenth century, with accompanying social advancement. This is contrasted with the problems of two court cases brought against them in the infamous Court of the Star Chamber in London, 150 miles distant. After the mid-seventeenth century they lived the precarious existence of the rural poor, at the mercy of poor harvests, poverty, accidents, chronic illnesses and sudden death. Outline family trees for the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are included, to help those interested in their Speake family to connect with the earlier information presented here. In particular, the very large Eaton-under-Heywood and Westbury families are comprehensively shown in outline. This reconstruction was made possible by the use of a large computerised relational database. Shropshire was an early leader in the Industrial Revolution and the new industries in Ironbridge and Ketley provided alternative employment for the rural poor. The later nineteenth century growth of local government also provided new opportunities for employment and increasing prosperity. The advent of the railways made it easier to seek work further afield and many Speake families migrated to the industrial districts of Lancashire, South Wales and the adjacent `Black Country' of the Midlands. More distant migrations were made to Canada, Patagonia, Australia and New Zealand. This book is a record of often short, hard lives, and although documentary evidence is hard to find, their lives can bring surprises. This book contains 130 family trees, nine specially commissioned maps, two original artworks and an extensive index. A comprehensive collection of Appendices contains summaries of all known Speake wills, lay subsidies, marriages licences and hearth tax entries and many other documents. These make this volume an essential addition to the book collection of family historians and others with an interest in Shropshire history and the Speake families.

This book is the result of 45 years of part-time research into the Shropshire Speake families. It describes the history of the author's family through thirteen generations, as well as all other associated Shropshire Speake families. In some cases it follows them across the nearby border into Wales, and the possible reasons for their migration. It focuses on the period prior to the advent of census returns and the civil registration of births, marriage and deaths in the early nineteenth century. Prior to this date research becomes more difficult and time consuming, and the aim of this book is to help Speake family researchers to link their family trees back to this earlier period. This approach has enabled this book to be kept a reasonable size. It is the story of periods of prosperity in the late sixteenth century, with accompanying social advancement. This is contrasted with the problems of two court cases brought against them in the infamous Court of the Star Chamber in London, 150 miles distant. After the mid-seventeenth century they lived the precarious existence of the rural poor, at the mercy of poor harvests, poverty, accidents, chronic illnesses and sudden death. Outline family trees for the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are included, to help those interested in their Speake family to connect with the earlier information presented here. In particular, the very large Eaton-under-Heywood and Westbury families are comprehensively shown in outline. This reconstruction was made possible by the use of a large computerised relational database. Shropshire was an early leader in the Industrial Revolution and the new industries in Ironbridge and Ketley provided alternative employment for the rural poor. The later nineteenth century growth of local government also provided new opportunities for employment and increasing prosperity. The advent of the railways made it easier to seek work further afield and many Speake families migrated to the industrial districts of Lancashire, South Wales and the adjacent `Black Country' of the Midlands. More distant migrations were made to Canada, Patagonia, Australia and New Zealand. This book is a record of often short, hard lives, and although documentary evidence is hard to find, their lives can bring surprises. This book contains 130 family trees, nine specially commissioned maps, two original artworks and an extensive index. A comprehensive collection of Appendices contains summaries of all known Speake wills, lay subsidies, marriages licences and hearth tax entries and many other documents. These make this volume an essential addition to the book collection of family historians and others with an interest in Shropshire history and the Speake families.

In his haunting debut, Water and Sky, published in 2014, Neil Sentance explored the history of his family and the landscape which shaped them. Ridge and Furrow continues the project to chart in prose the voices of a seldom recorded people and place. From the long shadows of war and want, to facing the great changes to rural life in the twentieth century, to first forays into a world beyond the flatlands of Lincolnshire, the book delicately portrays the dreams of lone, and often lonely, figures in one family's history. Ridge and Furrow melds memoir and fiction, place and nature writing, told with characteristic lyricism and muddy realism.

The popularity of studying our family history has been fueled by popular TV shows like Genealogy Roadshow, Finding Your Roots, and Who Do You Think You Are? The ability to access records online has opened up the one time hobby for genealogy enthusiasts to the mainstream. Companies like Ancestry.com, Familysearch.org, Findmypast.com, and MyHeritage have spent millions of dollars making records available around the world. DNA technology continues to evolve and provides the instant gratification that we have become use to as a society. But then the question remains, what does that really mean? Knowing your ancestry is more than just ethnic percentages it's about creating and building a story about your family history. The Family Tree Toolkit is designed to help you navigate the sometimes overwhelming and sometimes treacherous waters of finding your ancestors. Here is a roadmap to help you on this journey of discovery, whether you are looking for your African Asian, European, or Jewish ancestry. The Family Tree Toolkit guides you on how and where to begin, what records are available both online and in repositories, what to do once you find the information, how to share your story and of course DNA discoveries.

Praise for the 1st Edition "Easy to read yet filled with facts and information, this is a solid reference guide with everything for the beginner - and perhaps something for the more experienced too." - Family History Monthly "There is a lot of good advice in this book for those starting out." - Ancestors Navigate your way through your family's past Interested in family history? Keen to discover who your ancestors really were? Want to find out more from the comfort of your own home? If so, this book is for you. Walking you through the process of researching, organising and presenting your family tree online, this expert guide makes it simple. So what are you waiting for? Get plugged in and start tracking down your ancestors today! Lay the groundwork - take the first steps on your genealogical journey and start searching for evidence Find out about your ancestors - discover who your predecessors were and where they came from Get to grips with research tools - find the best online and offline archives and dig deeper into your family's past Present your results effectively - compile your findings into a family tree and create a place to host your material online Open the book and find: What clues you can get from photos, letters, diaries and your relatives The best genealogy websites in the UK and around the world How to get the most out of archives and documents Techniques for creating family history charts on your computer The advantages of coordinating your hunt with other researchers Ways to share research online Tips and tricks for building a family history web page Learn to: Get the most out of genealogy websites and resources Store and organise information on yourcomputer Create your family tree and host it online

THIS HEARTBREAKING, HEARTWARMING, TRUE STORY FOLLOWING THE HISTORY OF A FAMILY IN WALES IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS EVER WRITTEN. 'I am a proud supporter of our National Health Service which has shown yet again what an important and valued institution it is in the UK. As the first NHS baby through to her work today, Aneira's story shows her dedication and passion for protecting this phenomenal service for future generations.' KEIR STARMER 'This book speaks from the heart about a passion to preserve our NHS - as powerful a symbol of goodness as we have. Nye's own experience and that of her family represents our deep need to fight for a society where all are equal in worth and value. And how the NHS stands fast as a symbol of equality, of fairness, and of compassion for all.' MICHAEL SHEEN 'Aneira has written a memoir which is a deeply personal, richly researched and incredibly timely tribute to Britain's commitment to provide free and equal healthcare to all.' - DAILY MAIL Book of the Week, 22 May 2020 _____________________________________________________________ 'Edna,' says the doctor, coming to stand beside her bed. 'You need to wait. It's not long now. Don't push. Just hold on, Edna!' The birth of the National Health Service coincided with the birth of one little girl in South Wales: Aneira 'Nye' Thomas, the first baby delivered by the NHS. This is the touching story of Nye's family - their loves and losses - and the launch of a treasured public service that has touched the lives of every family in the nation.