Fifteen years and roughly 60,000 hours of research are included in this book. For the most part this book is a reference material. Also included are details of ancestor voyages, accounts of major incidents, the impacts those incidents had on these families, and more. There are steamer ship voyages documented for 27 families and for 795 individuals. There are 32 family trees presented. The Index includes 731 unique surnames and 2948 individuals documented in the family trees presented.

Many families have their own hopes and dreams of being descended from royalty, from someone famous, or simply having one "interesting" story about their ancestors. Frank had an early interest in his family history, starting when he was old enough to take part in family discussions about their suspicions of mafia involvement in their family's past. There were many such discussions, but Frank just knew there had to be more, especially since the older family members would staunchly avoid taking part in all such discussions. Sure enough, there was more-a lot more. Frank ("Frankie") Palisi was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father's family is Sicilian, and his mother's heritage is Cajun French. Frank is the third generation of his Sicilian line to be born in New Orleans. He graduated from the University of Houston at Clear Lake, and works as a Sr. Project Manager in the technology field.