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I wondered, when I got the marketing letter in the mail, how anyone could write a book about the history of the Cadzow family, and make it pay. There just aren't enough of us in this world to yield useful economies of scale in this bottom-line-oriented world of business.
As it turns out, Halbert's Family Heritage book The New World Book of Cadzows uses the modern-day practice of modular construction. As in a modular home or modular software, there are obviously parts that can be reused again and again -- one presumes for more profitable families such as the Smiths, Jones, and even the Nguyens.
There are sections about Coats of Arms, the origins of noble names and surnames, and even about conditions in Europe and the resulting mass emigration to America (the book's title is properly read: the NEW WORLD book -- not the new WORLD BOOK). In an attempt to cover all the bases, you will find entries for many homelands, only one of which is Scotland.
So what part of the book is really about Cadzows? The information starts getting specific in chapter 6, which contains some world statistics about Cadzows: there are 243 families world-wide in seven countries. However, the rather sparse family information is interlaced with details on how the publisher spent "thousands of dollars and months of effort" to provide us with this valuable information.
In addition, they provide a breakdown of where these Cadzow families reside (down to the state/provincial level in Australia and the USA). Finally, there is an address list of all Cadzow families, except those who, to paraphrase, requested their privacy. (Did anyone call you?)
So is this book worth almost US$40?
Like many other things, this will depend on the individual. Much of the general information could be gained from your local library, and much of the Cadzow information is available on the net, particularly through services such as Yahoo's white pages. I did a search there several years ago, and came up with 135 Cadzow entries in the USA, compared to this book's 90.
Still, one staggers at the wonders of modern commerce, in which they presumably thought they could earn enough of a profit from 243 families to make the whole endeavor worthwhile.
I wonder what the Nguyens thought of their book?
