A family history book, researched and written for the generations to come
Where a memoir follows one life, a family history book follows the whole line — the names in the register, the decision to leave, and everyone who came after.
From a name in a register to a story your grandchildren can read
We start from whatever the family already has — a surname, a village, a box of photographs, a story told at the holidays — and trace it back through the records: baptisms and marriages, census and land books, ship manifests and naturalization papers.
Then we write it as narrative history, not a chart: the people, the places, and the reasons, in the order they happened.
Reserve a first conversationMemoir or family history?
Many families combine the two: a memoir at the heart of the book, framed by the generations that came before it.
One life, in one voice
Built from recorded conversations with the person whose life it is. The right choice while a parent or grandparent can still tell the story firsthand.
Many lives, across generations
Built from archival research and the memories of the living family. The right choice when the story reaches back beyond living memory, or when several branches want one book.
Research, voices, places, and a book to hold
Genealogical research
Church and civil registers, census and land records, emigration and immigration papers — read in their original languages.
The living family
Conversations with the relatives who remember, so the book holds the stories no archive ever kept.
The places
Maps, the villages and streets as they are today, and — if you wish — a journey to stand in them yourself.
About heritage journeysThe book
Narrative chapters, family trees, photographs, and documents, designed and printed as a hardcover family edition.
What the finished book looks likeWhat the records can, and can't, tell us
Wars, border changes, and fires have taken their share of Central Europe's archives, and some trails end sooner than a family hopes. So we look first and promise second: after an initial search we tell you plainly what the records are likely to hold, before you commit to the full book.
Where the documents run out, we say so in the book — and let the history of the place tell what the family's own papers cannot.
Before you begin
How far back can you go?
It depends on what survives. For Hungarian families, civil registration began in 1895 and church registers often reach back into the 1700s. We'll tell you what to expect after the first search.
We only know a surname and a country. Is that enough?
Often, yes. Family papers, naturalization records, and ship manifests usually point to a county or a village, and from there the parish registers take over.
How much does a family history book cost?
Most commissions begin at $10,000. Because the research varies more than it does for a memoir, we quote after the initial search, in writing, before any further work begins.
Can every branch of the family have a copy?
Yes. We print as many copies as you need, and keep the files so more can be printed later.
Tell us the names you already know
A surname, a village, a date on the back of a photograph — that is enough for a first conversation.
Reserve a first conversation