George Redmonds is a freelance historian, specialising in Names Studies and Local History. He has lectured widely in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand and in 2001 presented the BBC Radio 4 series 'Surnames, Genes and Genealogy'. His numerous books include Surnames and Genealogy (1997) and Names and History (2004).


Turi King read Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge before undertaking her MSc and PhD in genetics at the University of Leicester. For the past ten years her research has focused on the link between surnames and genetics and its applications in the fields of forensics, epidemiology, genealogy and population history.

David Hey is Emeritus Professor of Local and Family History at the University of Sheffield. He is President of the British Association for Local History and the Chairman of the British Record Society. His numerous books include The Oxford Companion to Family and Local History ( third edition, 2008).

"Enthralling and compulsively readable, this book combines linguistics with genetics, genealogy, and local history to provide a fresh and eye-opening vision of the British past -- and indeed of family histories across a wider world. Focusing on the history of British surnames it casts a totally new light on what makes us who we are -- and how we can find out. Indispensable reading for anyone interested in their roots, this book offers nothing less than a new perspective on British history." --Michael Wood, historian and broadcaster

"This approachable volume on British family names bridges revisionist genealogy and new genetic research in historical linguistics...well-presented." --eLanguage