Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purposes of review and I have received other books from Genealogical Publishing Company, also for review. Additionally, Roberta Estes is a blogging friend who I met years ago at RootsTech. However, my opinions are my own and not influenced by outside sources.
I am the first to admit that, while I have taken autosomal and mtDNA tests and have had my husband take the same plus the Y-DNA – 111 test, I am not particularly into DNA.
My results had no surprises and my brick walls are about a generation too early for autosomal DNA results to be of much help, especially when those distant cousins don’t know any more than I do.
However, Roberta Estes is a top-notch writer. Her blog, DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy, is a treasure trove of both DNA educational resources and quality-written posts about her own family research. Roberta has been honored with a notice from the Library of Congress that her blog is being preserved for future generations.
Her latest book, The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA; Y-DNA, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X-DNA is quite specific as its focus is on navigating the FamilyTreeDNA website and understanding the information that DNA test results have provided for the client. However, don’t let that title mislead you if you don’t use FamilyTreeDNA.
The Table of Contents is a lengthy seven pages, but here are the highlights:
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
How to Use This Book
Evolution [Mitochondrial DNA, Y-DNA, Autosomal Testing]
Chapter 1: Types of Testing – Y-DNA, Mitochondrial DNA, Autosomal, and X-DNA
Chapter 2: Setting Yourself Up for Success
Chapter 3: Y-DNA – Your Father’s Story
Chapter 4: Mitochondrial DNA – Your Mother’s Story
Chapter 5: Autosomal DNA – The Family Finder Test
Chapter 6: X Chromosome – Unique Inheritance Path
Chapter 7: Ethnicity – My Origins
Chapter 8: Advanced Matching
Chapter 9: Finding, Joining and Utilizing Projects
Chapter 10: Third Party Tools
Chapter 11: Creating Your Step-by-Step Roadmap
Glossary
In the introduction, Roberta invites the reader to log into his/her FamilyTreeDNA account and follow along using her book as a guide, so that is exactly what I did.
Working through the chapters, I learned lots of new details beginning with my account settings to understanding more about the X-chromosome.
I am familiar enough with the basics of DNA test results and found Chapters 3, 4 and 5 easy to follow. I especially liked the case studies referenced in Chapters 3 and 4 as they provided clear explanations of how specific DNA results were used to answer genealogical questions.
Chapter 7 covers Ethnicity and Roberta does an excellent job of explaining how ethnicities pop up and disappear in various test results. She makes a point of repeating that ethnicity results are ONLY estimates and small amounts might just be “noise” and not real.
Chapter 11 provides easy steps to crating a personal roadmap of DNA test results. Younger persons who still have living parents and/or living grandparents can take full advantage of suggestions to test elder living relatives along with many other suggestions to strengthen one’s knowledge about DNA results.
Each chapter is filled with Tips, highlighted in gray boxes and LOTS of examples, which I love. It changes the book from a textbook feeling to that of a helpful guide.
Although this book is geared to results found in FamilyTreeDNA, there is so much information about DNA tests, results, third party tools and handy TIPS that any genealogist using DNA strategies as a research tool will learn something new.
This book should be on the reference shelf of all genealogical DNA researchers. It is well written and very easy to follow and understand – this coming from a non-science person!
The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA: Y-DNA, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X-DNA by Robert Estes, newly published in 2024, can be purchased online from Genealogical Publishing Company for $24.95 in eBook format or $37.50/paperback format.