Thursday, February 05, 2009

28 Million People Should Buy This Book

Did you know that about 28 million people worldwide can claim Scots ancestry? It means if they all turned up during the year of homecoming we'd be in deep trouble! I know this fact because I've just heard about a fascinating new book to be published next month called Scottish Genealogy by Bruce Durie.


Did you also know that Scotland has possibly the most complete and best-kept set of records and other documents on the planet? Given the extraordinary worldwide Scottish diaspora, there's clearly a need for a thorough guide to Scottish genealogy; Bruce Durie’s book brings authority to the subject and is firmly based on established genealogical practice. Bruce disabuses the reader of the many canards which have accompanied the recent upsurge in interest in family history, notably that it’s ‘all on the internet,’ that there is such a thing as a ‘family coat of arms’ and that everything written down must be true (just check out the blogosphere!).

Bruce is the Course Director in Genealogical Studies at the University of Strathclyde and was formerly a biochemist, pharmacologist and neuroscientist; he is also Archivist and Historian to the Chief of the Durie Family and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

5 comments:

Wolfie said...

Now that you've told me the ending I don't really see why I would need to read it.

Richard Havers said...

Woolfie, think of the fun you'll have on the journey!

CherryPie said...

There is a Scottish link in my family tree, but I haven't got very far with it!

Anonymous said...

Richard, this looks a fascinating book. In the past couple of months I have been tracing my Scottish ancestry - my mother was a Scot - via the excellent web site www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk and it turned up some incredible documents of my ancestors. So far I have gone back as far as great-grandparents and there's still lots more to discover. Once you find family members it lets you download a facsimile of the original entry, be it a birth, marriage or a death.

r morris said...

i'm going to have to buy this book. also, thanx Richard E for the website.
I heard somewhere that, like Scotland, Ireland has more people of the land elsewhere than in the home country. The US has a lot of both, and many of our Presidents were Scots.