Robert A. Mayers, an expert genealogist and published historian, has traced his roots back 600 years covering nineteen generations. This unique blending of skilled research, framed in the overall historical events of turbulent times, reads like a riveting page-turning novel and is a welcome departure from the usual bland genealogies. The work spans medieval England, the Puritan migration, colonial America, the Revolutionary War and the industrial revolution in England and America. The results of over thirty years of intensive research, using all conventional sources combined with oral history and Internet-savvy searching, shows how he broke down the brick walls he encountered. Coming to life on the book’s pages are a Puritan family who sailed with John Winthrop in 1630, a Revolutionary War soldier in the Continental Army for the entire war, a pioneer industrialist and a militant labor activist. These ancestors were exceptional people who were driven by unusual courage to go beyond the norms of their time in history to participate in many of the most critical events in American history. They were driven by intense economic, patriotic and religious motives to venture into the unknown, travel to new lands and start new lives. Among America’s great first families these accounts are framed in the local and national historic settings that portray war, romance and tragedy. Robert A. Mayers recounts his colorful adventures and travels researching in England and America and describes all the sites as they look today. The book is skillfully designed and laid out and contains over seventy pictures of sites, documents, photos and maps. It is indexed and uses the Register Format. The author is an active member in ten historical societies in areas where this history occurred and is a frequent speaker and contributor to society publications.