It's natural to wonder about one's family history, to question how previous generations shaped the lives of their descendants.Sarah Hartley took this wonder and began a long and exhaustive research into her family history and uncovered some amazing facts, information she would like to share with you in "The Bamfords: A Family History '. Her book starts in the late 1700s with an ordinary but hardworking and driven family that eventually owned and operated a business on both sides of the Atlantic. An immense fortune ensued, and the family was surrounded by the trappings of wealth, many carrying out philanthropic acts. However, their riches did not shield them from the scourges of the day and the family was hit by plagues, bad financial planning and hard economic times. Ultimately, much was lost. Through marriage, the family history widened to include industrialists, scholars and probable links to earls and barons. Modern-day menaces also found their way into the family with devastating results, as did two world wars. In "The Bamfords: A Family History", Sarah has managed to piece together the many facts and anecdotes to chronicle a fascinating account of the Bamford family.