First published in 1982, Worldwide Family History is an essential reference and guide for the professional genealogist and the interested amateur alike. Concentrating on non-British genealogical problems, it sets out as succinctly as possible the way in which people of English speech but of foreign descent can begin tracing their ancestors. It is designed to be used throughout the English-speaking world, and especially by people of mixed European ancestry.

The first part deals with the political and linguistic structure of Europe and includes chapters on genealogy in all European countries. The second part deals with colonial shipping in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the settlement of the Americas (including chapters on Spanish, Italian, Polish, German, French and Slav emigrants), and a record of the early settlement of Europeans in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. There is also a chapter on heraldry as an aid to genealogical research.

Contributors to the book include the internationally known genealogists—Margaret Audin; H. Jäger-Sunstenau; Conte G.G. Camajani; F. de Cadenas; Conde de Gaviria; Dr Artur Norton; Baron de Sao Roque; S. Kuczynski; M. M. Paszkiewicz; L. G. Pine; P. de V. B. Dewar; B. C. G. Brooks; and Professor W. Gordon East.