1918: End Game

John Christopher & Campbell McCutcheon • £15.99
Amberley Books

1918 was the fifth and final year of the Great War. With thousands of fresh American troops heading across the Atlantic to fight on the side of the Allies, Germany’s High Command knew it had to strike a decisive blow to turn the course of the war in its favour. The Allied counter-offensive on the Marne began in July and, with the Americans joining the fighting, the Germans were forced back to the Hindenburg Line. Starved of food and supplies, Germany faced inevitable defeat and sought terms for a peace settlement.

In defeat Germany was humiliated and economically paralysed by the demand for war reparations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, which was signed in June the following year. The political map was irrevocably changed and the so-called ‘war to end all wars’ was the harbinger of an even greater conflict yet to come. John Christopher and Campbell McCutcheon tell the story of 1918, the final year of fighting, and also the immediate post-war period, using many rare and often unpublished images.

Family History on the Net

Colin Waters • £9.95
https://countrysidebooks.co.uk/

This is the fifth edition of what has become an almost indispensable aid for family historians. In compiling the new edition, entries from previous editions have been carefully checked for accuracy. Web addresses and descriptions have been updated and many valuable new genealogical sites have been added. The book is divided into sections and grouped alphabetically under straightforward headings, such as Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Divorces and Deaths; Census Returns; Emigration and Immigration; Land and Property and Occupations.

Making Sense of Latin Documents

Brooke Westcott • £7.50
thefamilyhistorypartnership.com

The farther back your research takes you, the more likely you are to come across documents partially or wholly in Latin. Index entries and catalogue descriptions vary in completeness, and it can be dispiriting sometimes to find that a document contains no more information than its catalogue entry. But if you don’t go through it word for word you will always wonder whether something vital was hidden in there somewhere. The aim of this book is to act as a crib; to set out and translate the basic form of the most useful and most common Latin documents, enabling the genealogist to get the most out of them.

Divorced, Bigamist, Bereaved?

Rebecca Probert • £9.99
Takeaway Publishing

In this follow-up to the bestselling Marriage Law for Genealogists, Rebecca Probert explains marital breakdown, separation, divorce, bigamy, bereavement and remarriage from the 1600s through to the late twentieth century. From the evidential requirements of the divorce courts through to the testimonies of convicted bigamists, and from men who married their late wife’s sister through to couples who went through more than one wedding ceremony together, this book examines law and social custom from every angle. Rebecca Probert is the leading authority on the history of marriage law and practice in England and Wales.

Ireland’s Invasion of the World

Miki Garcia • £9.99
The History Press

For much of Ireland’s history her people have been emigrating and the Irish Diaspora today is estimated to be over 100 million people, many times larger than the current population of Ireland.

For the most part they scattered not as colonizers but as migrants, they took their culture and identity with them and made a mark on their adopted county. They fought wars, formed societies, shaped cultures, created new identities and made history.

This book looks at the Irish contribution to the story of all five continents, recalling unsung heroes, tragic tales and forgotten legacies.