For beginners and experienced researchers, Rapaport provides a guide to understanding and obtaining court records in the New England states. She explains the fundamentals of law, types of courts and documents and where to find them, terminology, then individual chapters on Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. These chapters consist of a timeline of the history of the courts, a description of their structure, and a list of sources by county. The final section describes examples of searches using computer databases, federal court records, indexes, justice of the peace records, and law library research, including how to search for people of color. The appendices list contact information for state and federal courts and other sources. Rapaport is a former trial lawyer and writes the column "Tales from the Courthouse" for New England Ancestors magazine. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com