Common people : the history of an English family / Alison Light.

Family history is a massive phenomenon of our times but what are we after when we go in search of our ancestors? Beginning with her grandparents, Light moves between the present and the past, in an extraordinary series of journeys over two centuries, across Britain and beyond. In following the lives of the migrants who traveled the country looking for work, she ultimately reflects on history itself, and on our constant need to know who went before us and what we owe them.