Family Trees

François Weil

“[Weil] displays both thoroughness and grounding as he stakes out the contours of his American genealogical culture into four distinct periods, with successive dominant meanings and touchstones… Weil convincingly delineates the fact that origins matter; they fill many needs, from the noble to the nasty.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Fascinating… Like the families it’s meant to chronicle, genealogy itself has changed quite a bit over time, but it remains, as ever, a dynamic and captivating quest.”—Publishers Weekly

“Brilliantly conceived, fresh in insight, and gracefully executed, François Weil’s book offers a rich and entertaining account of the American fascination with lineage and identity. In his hands genealogy provides a rich measure of the changing parameters of nationalism and the accommodation of pluralism.”—Thomas Bender, author of A Nation Among Nations: America’s Place in World History

“A fascinating exploration of the uniquely American obsession with genealogy, François Weil’s Family Trees is cultural history at its very best—a tour de force.”—Ariela Gross, author of What Blood Won’t Tell: A History of Race on Trial in America

“This elegant social and cultural history of genealogy in America is marked by meticulous research and astute comparisons with Europe as American practices gradually diverged. The central theme of democratization flowing, ebbing, and then flowing once again in the twentieth century is brilliantly realized.”—Michael Kammen, past president of the Organization of American Historians

“Acutely conscious of the irony that a culture which prizes novelty is also preoccupied with genealogy, François Weil’s Family Trees provides a revealing window into four centuries of cultural transformation. A sweeping and eloquent account of how a present-minded, future-facing people look to their personal past to understand who they truly are.”—Steven Mintz, author of Huck’s Raft: A History of American Childhood