Adam LeBor on Television

WHEN A MAN REACHES a certain age, his thoughts to turn to the three G’s — grandchildren, gardening and genealogy. In my case — 59, since you ask — as my teenage children are still at school it’s too soon for the first, and while I love a beautiful garden I don’t have the patience to nurture one.

But I have spent a good part of my career digging out information, making connections, mapping networks and then writing about them, so genealogy definitely appeals. Every family has its stories —