"The Smell of the Soil" is designed to encourage the reader to go beyond basic genealogy, to write the family story.  Brief chapters include personal memories to trigger the reader's recollections.  There are "how to" suggestions.  Mainly, the book stresses the importance of preserving family history.  The format, written word or oral, is up to the writer.  The important thing is to start.  When we die, our stories die, unless someone recorded them for future generations.  Another person put it this way:  Every time someone dies a library closes.