In this deeply personal investigation, a trained historian unearths the journey of his father's family

from a tiny shtetl in what was western Russia (then Poland and now Ukraine), to the thriving port of

Baltimore. With little knowledge at the start, the author reaches back to the lives of his great-great

grandparents in the 1860s and traces what became of each of their six children who settled with

families in crowded East Baltimore. Drawing on a vast repertoire of sources, from official documents

to descendant interviews, photos, and writings, this highly readable narrative exemplifies how family

history illuminates the Jewish immigrant experience. The story, and the author's process of recovering

it, will fascinate those seeking to learn about their family's past and interested in the migration

experiences of Jewish ancestors.