There are a lot of books that describe how to find your ancestors; this one explains how to avoid the traps many family historians can fall into such as a proud family legend, a venerable publication, or the claims of an Internet family tree. Here are just a few of the lessons from the book: Recognizing when identical surnames conceal different nationalities; Understanding when and why death certificates can be "wrong"; Knowing when ancestors' middle names are not family names; Respecting the role of geography in establishing ancestral ties; Taking the genealogies in 19th-century "mug books" with a grain of salt; and Accepting that all relationships must be chronologically plausible. (126pp. illus. Gen. Pub. co., 2013.)