Thursday, February 5, 2009

Great New Scottish Ancestry 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. Check it out next time you're at your local book shop

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.

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