Not only is the book a riveting read, each chapter is preceded by the laconic workaday diary entries from which Ulrich recreated a world through research. For those working on certification, in terms of putting a bare-bones ancestor into her historical context, one could view this as the world's best kinship determination project. In my world, anyone who has written a book of this quality can die happy.
I have been a fan for a long time, but it came as news to me that Ulrich grew up Mormon in small-town Idaho, or that she came to history relatively late in life. These days she has a project reaching back to her own roots . . .
(Hat tip to History News Network.)
Harold Henderson, "A Historian's Tale," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 30 October 2014 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : viewed [date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]
2 comments:
Ah, Harold, yes this book is as beautiful a read now as when published some 23 years ago. The Ballard diary is a gem, and Ulrich's work provided a fine view of the community context. This one should stand the test of time.
Thank you for recommending this. I just finished reading it and watching the video. What a rare treasure that diary is.
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