“Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.”  Hermann Hesse

“The most difficult book I have ever read was a manual on the use of iron mangles by A J Thompson” – Spike Milligan

At Genealogy Towers we are awaiting planning permission to extend the west wing and if the work goes ahead I will have to pack away my office files and books for a while before I am relocated.  Contemplating this task I asked Mr Gin and Genealogy if he thought the books on the shelves in my study would eventually end up in a skip when I go to the great archive office in the sky.  Kindly he avoided saying they would be the first things to go at my demise and suggested family members might want them. A look of doubt crossed his face though and I knew he was thinking of my Militia Lists and Musters 1757-1876.

There are only two genres of books on the shelves in here; travel guides and, yes, of course, genealogy or history books.  Travel guides are easily culled as they become out of date pretty quickly, especially since covid when many of the hotels, restaurants and tours reviewed in the books did not survive.  However the history books and those relating to genealogy have a much longer shelf life.  I couldn’t possibly be without all the Pen & Sword family history books on how to trace ancestors through various records.  Even the smartest genealogist needs to refresh their knowledge from time to time and these books are well written, researched and extremely well laid out so it’s easy to find the information required.

Here’s a pick and mix selection from my modest library along with the category in which I feel they should be awarded top recognition:

Best General Guide for Genealogy - Ancestral Trails, Mark Herber, Sutton Publishing, Society of Genealogists, 2004.

It’s all here. Everything. In detail.

Most Hated - Anything about Heraldry.  Simple. Would put in skip myself.

Most used - The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, Cecil R Humphery Smith, Third Edition, Phillimore & Co, 2020

Find your way around England’s parishes and scattered parish records; parochial boundaries, probate jurisdictions and dates of surviving records.  What’s not to like?

Also by Phillimore, an invaluable book for anyone researching parish records;

The Parish Chest, W.E.Tate, Phillimore, 2011

Most Intriguing Read  - The Arsenic Century.  How Victorian Britain was Poisoned at Home, Work and Play, James C Whorton, Oxford University Press, 2011

Who Knew?

Favourite of the many books relating to London - The London Compendium, Ed Glinert, Penguin Books, 2012

Whilst Peter Ackroyd’s book, London, The Biography, remains one of my favourite reads, The London Compendium contains many marvellous facts and historical background to the streets of the Capital.  Great to dip into and very addictive.

Most Misunderstood book – The Bristol and Gloucestershire Lay Subsidy of 1523-1527, Gloucestershire Record Series, Vol 23,Ed M A Faraday, The Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society

This book has often been used in my research of medieval Gloucestershire families but no one cares.  The postman complained that it was very heavy, and asked me what it was..… he looked blankly at me when I told him.  Suspect this one will be first in the skip.

Most Recommended - Excellent Essex, Gillian Darley, Old Street Publishing, 2019

Marvellous history of the best county in the UK and extremely readable. Full of surprising stories and facts.

My Current Favourite - London County Council, Bomb Damage Maps, 1939-1945, Laurence Ward, Thames and Hudson, reprinted 2022

You need strong glasses and a magnifying glass but it’s all worth it!  Once you start looking for the streets and surrounding environs of the places your family lived during WW2, I guarantee you won’t be able to draw yourself away.  Lots of photographs of the bomb damage too.  

And so it’s onto the gin section.  I felt I should write something about Dry January but I covered my discovery of Tanqueray 0.0%  in my last blog so I feel I’ve met my obligations there.   I have, however, been looking at gins produced in India as I am travelling to Kerala next month and as you would expect, there are a huge range.  In particular I’ve been looking at the some of the ingredients that are used.  If anyone knows what Snake Saffron is, please let me know.