Publications

Setting a new standard in self-help literature for German family history research, this book incorporates for the first time the following important elements: A short history of handwriting styles in Germany; detailed separate methodologies for deciphering German, Latin, and French vital records; a computerized alphabet for old German characters; nearly 200 sample texts from genuine historical documents; and the application of the reverse alphabetical index in the deciphering process. From the perspective of a family history researcher, there are three significant challenges in German research: explaining spelling changes in German names, locating the ancestral home town in Germany, and deciphering the handwriting found in German documents. Every one of us will deal with the fist challenge, only the most fortunate can avoid the second, and most of us will evantually confront the third. Indeed, it is hard to imagine colleting ancestral data in a German town or parish using only typewritten sources; thus reading the old handwriting becomes an indispensable capability.