Footprints in Time follows thirty-two generations of the Bryan family, dating as far back as the year 907. The book begins with the Comtes de Flanders (Counts of Flanders), who first settled in a small village in the Champagne Region of France after fleeing from Viking attacks on their homeland of Flanders. The Comes de Briennes, as they became known, lived in France for over nine generations. The family later migrated into Wales, then England, then Ireland. In 1650, the Bryans were deported from Ireland to the Colony of Virginia by Oliver Cromwell during the English invasion of Ireland. Col. William Smith Bryan of the Irish Rebel Forces and a direct descendent of the Irish king, Brian Boru, was viewed by the English as a threat to their dominance over Ireland. The book traces the early days of the Bryan family in Colonial America to the present. The family line includes French and English royalty, knights, lords, political leaders, explorers, religious leaders, pioneers, salt-of-the-earth Americans, and even a renowned pirate.