Finding an autobiography of an ancestor, regardless of how distant, can sometimes open the door to new information on an ancestor closer on the tree.  I am reading the Autobiography of Friedrich Froebel who is my 5th Great Grand Uncle; which I found using Google Books.  My initial thoughts when finding the book were that he would briefly mention his family and then write about his work.  Was I ever wrong, the details of his childhood are amazing.   Friedrich discusses what his brothers and their children did and how they impacted his life and work.

A simple search in Google Books has opened a door into the life of an ancestor and further details of ancestors I knew nothing of.  I will be taking more time searching books online to see what other information is waiting to be found.

I thank my ancestor Friedrich Froebel for writing his autobiography and to Emilie Michaelis and H. Keatley Moore for translating and annotating the text.