"This step-by-step approach has no genuine equivalent." (*)

James Cortada's History Hunting is a compelling blend of memoir and practical introduction to historical research. Each chapter opens with research stories retold with wit and warmth, then moves into "how-to" mode to describe the historian's craft. The book offers guidance to aspiring historians at every stage and in every walk of life, from advice on tackling and organizing projects to recommendations for finding and using resources of all kinds, whether at the local historical society or the next family reunion, in the National Archives or the vast reaches of the World Wide Web. It is both a "good read" and a primer on the best practices for researchers, packed with useful bibliographies, vetted websites, and intriguing previews of the future of historical research.

Endorsements: “A unique and invaluable guide to historical research and writing whose dimensions are unprecedented and also very up-to-date. From traditional history to information technology to genealogy to bibliographies, this step-by-step approach has no genuine equivalent.” — Stanley Payne, University of Wisconsin-Madison (*)

“In History Hunting, Jim Cortada ...breathes life into the daily work of the practicing historian--from hunting down complete sets of Spanish encyclopedias to coordinating a multigenerational family history project to archiving the contemporary history of information technology. Researching, refining, preparing, writing--the clues to prolific authorship are in this book.” — Thomas J. Misa, Charles Babbage Institute for the History of Information Technology, University of Minnesota

"James Cortada’s History Hunting is a practical, pleasantly readable volume on researching and writing history. Informative, insightful, and elegantly written, Cortada’s wide-ranging book will be useful to both traditional and high-tech historical researchers. History Hunting should become a standard text in college-level courses devoted to the mechanics as well as the excitement of historical inquiry." — George Sirgiovanni, College of Saint Elizabeth

"Not strictly about cinema, but a book that’s indispensable for film researchers, is James Cortada’s History Hunting. History Hunting, the fruit of forty years of spelunking in archives, museums, and the world at large, is an enjoyable handbook on doing historical research. It ranges from help with genealogy to suggestions about how to frame a doctoral thesis. Jim reminds us that the historian must turn into an archivist: the materials you collect are documents for future historians to use. You are, to use the new buzzword, a curator. Jim provides a wealth of practical suggestions along with his own tales of the hunt. " — David Bordwell, Website on Cinema