Our club library has purchased a new book: The Family Tree German Genealogy Guide by James M. Beidler. It was published by Family Tree Books in March and is shelved in the “Germany” subsection of our “Foreign” collection.

Mr. Beidler is also the author of  Legacy Quick Guide: German Genealogy and contributes to German Life magazine.

The book is over 200 pages and has 14 chapters:

1.  Your German-Speaking Heritage
2.  Identifying the German-Speaking Immigrant
3.  Pinpointing the Place of Origin
4.  The History of Germanic Lands
5.  Understanding Germany’s Geography
6.  Language, Surnames, Given Names
7.  Civil Registration in Germany
8.  German Church Records
9.  German Census and Court Records
10.  German Military Records
11.  Printed Records
12.  German-Speaking Peoples Outside of Germany
13.  Putting it All Together
14.  What to Do When You Get Stuck

There are also a number of useful appendices: one on German script, another on publications and websites, and more. There’s a favorable review of the book at Eastman’s Newsletter. Though I haven’t read it myself, it looks like it’s very well done.