Genealogy has become a widely popular pursuit, as millions of people now research their family history, trace their forebears, attend family reunions and travel to ancestral home sites. Geographers have much to contribute to the serious study of the family history phenomenon. Land records, maps and even GIS are increasingly used by genealogical investigators. As a cultural practice, it encompasses peoples' emotional attachments to ancestral places and is widely manifest on the ground as personal heritage travel. Family history research also has significant potential to challenge accepted geographical views of migration, ethnicity, socio-economic class and place-based identities. This volume is possibly the first ever book to address the geographical and scholarly aspects of this increasingly popular social phenomenon. It highlights tools and information sources used by geographers and their application to family history research. Furthermore, it examines family history as a socio-cultural practice, including the activities of tourism, archival research and DNA testing.

A Genealogist's Guide to Using Maps and Geography The truth about genealogy is that, although you might believe it has something to do with history, it actually has something more to do with geography. Though of course the names and dates on your family tree are the bread and butter of genealogy, the location of the records is what reveals them. And how better to learn about location than with maps! Maps are a crucial tool in learning about your family history. They can show you how to find a courthouse, where a grave is located, or where an ancestral homestead might be. But maps are much more than that - they can reveal intimate details about the lives of your ancestors. Walk the roads that your forefathers walked with maps! Maps will reveal the clues that you need to locate ancestors that suddenly "disappear." This book will teach you how to use maps to: Find the roads, rivers, and trains that your great-grandfathers used to travel across the country and see where they might have relocated. Discover the ever-shifting boundaries of territories, counties, and towns and learn the alternate places where records might be found. Locate places that no longer exist and uncover the long-lost homes, schools, farms, and more where your ancestors spent their time. Become familiar with all the different kinds of maps, from military to topographic, and how they can assist you in your research. Walking with Your Ancestors is the perfect guide to the under-utilized revelations that are just waiting for you in maps, atlases, and gazetteers. Find out about these fascinating snapshots of history and what they can tell you about the lives of your ancestors today!

Inspired by the growing ancestry and DNA-testing crazes, this guide helps readers dig into the past and learn more about their own family history. It offers tips on how to interview family members, create a family tree, and much more. Full color.

Israel and Africa critically examines the ways in which Africa – as a geopolitical entity - is socially manufactured, collectively imagined but also culturally denied in Israeli politics. Its unique exploration of moral geography and its comprehensive, interdisciplinary research on the two countries offers new perspectives on Israeli history and society. Through a genealogical investigation of the relationships between Israel and Africa, this book sheds light on the processes of nationalism, development and modernization, exploring Africa’s role as an instrument in the constant re-shaping of Zionism. Through looking at "Israel in Africa" as well as "Africa in Israel", it provides insightful analysis on the demarcation of Israel's ethnic boundaries and identity formation as well as proposing the different practices, from architectural influences to the arms trade, that have formed the geopolitical concept of "Africa". It is through these practices that Israel reproduces its internal racial and ethnic boundaries and spaces, contributing to its geographical imagination as detached not solely from the Middle East but also from its African connections. This book would be of interest to students and scholars of Middle East and Jewish Studies, as well as Post-colonial Studies, Geography and Architectural History.