This second book of the series takes the genealogist back the brick wall by using the not-so obvious and often overlooked. Finding records during the Indian war and colonial times of America are discussed, along with old church records, and records of old insurance companies and banks. Immigration records and ship passenger lists are explained.
DNA is discussed as another way to get past a brick wall. Then we switch to European records with birth, marriage, and death records back to the Middle Ages. European church, military, and occupational guild records are explained.
It is imperative this far back to know how to read Middle English, for many of the words and letters of today are far different than they were back then. Alphabets and unique words are spelled out. Visitations (medieval censuses) are explained along with how to find lists of names.
This far back, the genealogist needs to check whether an ancestor was of the peerage of royalty. Or perhaps of the gentry such as a knight, a gentleman or a yeoman. All are explained in detail.
This book is a must-have for the serious genealogist, and an excellent follow up to volume 1 which covers America mostly during the 19th and 20th centuries.