Village Records - Third Edition by John West

This is a skilful and seamless combination of ''how to do it' advice with a comprehensive work of reference. To illuminate his detailed, practical guidance, the author has used a series of landmark documents relating to one particular village, Chaddesley Corbett; all of them available for virtually any locality. He then, through up-to-date, county-by-county source lists and bibliographies, makes it easy for the reader to locate and to use similar sources -- ranging from Saxon charters and place names to turnpike trust records and commercial directories -- covering over a thousand years of history.

This book offers invaluable assistance to the searcher, whether a school or college student or a mature student pursuing local history in retirement. Indeed, it is the amateur, working from home who will, perhaps most of all, find Dr. West's clear, step-by-step approach the shortest cut available to locating the material and then making sense of what, at first sight, appears unintelligible to all be an expert.