FACTUAL BOOKS FOR BACKGROUND The family historian’s essential reading list
From diaries, to reports and commentaries, professional researcher Kim Cook reflects on the factual books that we, as family historians, would find so useful for learning about the historical background of, and getting a truer feeling for, our ancestors’ lives When researching family history, specific sourcing of original documents is essential, but these documents tell us little of the day-to-day routine of our ancestors. They don’t reveal the atmosphere of the family home and workplace, the daily sights, sounds, and smells encountered every day. They give little indication of whether the local community was genuinely united and at one, or whether the boundaries of class, creed, or politics caused irreparable divisions.
Factual diaries, reports and commentaries, whether local or national,…
