• Sephardic Genealogy: Discovering your Sephardic Ancestors and Their World. by J. S. Malka Avotaynu 2002 Only comprehensive book on Sephardic Genealogy ! "Judaica Reference Book of the Year Award" for 2002 Click here for table of Contents

These are some of the books I have found useful in my searches.

It is by no means a complete list (a much larger list can be found in my book on Sephardic genealogy) but it is hoped that these will be useful as a start in your own searches. Even though the books are divided into sections for convenience, Jews frequently moved from region to region (between Spain and North Africa in pre-expulsion days and between Italy, the Ottoman empire, North Africa, and the Americas after that). It is therefore important to read books from all sections to avoid getting an erroneous view of Jews of this or that region as a separate isolated entity. Sephardic Jews were in constant contact with each other, both physically and intellectually, and frequently travelled to and from Baghdad to Spain to North Africa as these books clearly demonstrate.

Many of these books are out of print and hard to find. Look for them in local University or Jewish Libraries.

1. A few can be found at discount internet sources such as:
Click here to connect to .
Where I could, I have provided, next to the book, a direct link to Amazon which usually has the best prices.

2. Others can be found at Out of Print dealers such as Bookfinder books Click here.

3. Sephardic House bookstore in NY. Direct links provided here too where applicable.

• Sephardic Genealogy: Discovering Your Sephardic Ancestors and Their World.
  Avotaynu, 2002. Click here for Table of Contents and to order from Avotaynu.
  Indispensable. The ONLY comprehensive book for Sephardic Genealogy. -- History, research methods, archives, surnames, maps, bibliography, and more.

Israel

Tagger, Mathilde and Kerem, Yitchak

• Guidebook for Sephardic and Oriental Genealogical Sources in Israel .
  Avotaynu, 2006.
  Order from Avotaynu now. Thorough detailed guide to resources available in Israel. A must before a trip to Israel.

• Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Israel.
  Avotaynu, 1995.
  Order from Amazon Books now. Introduction to resources available in Israel.

• Yehudei ha-Mizrah be-erets Yisrael.
  Jerusalem. 1938.
  Vol II is a biographical dictionary of Oriental Jews in Eretz Israel.

Sephardic Onomastics and Rabbinic Dictionaries

Ben Naim, Yosef

• Malkhei Rabanan.
  Jerusalem, 1931 (Hebrew).
  Extensive biographical listing of rabbis of Morocco

• Malkhei Tarshish.
  Jerusalem, 1986 (Hebrew).
  Extensive biographical listing of rabbis of Tunisia

• Toldot Hakhmei Yerushalayim.
  Jerusalem, 1872 (Hebrew).
  Biographical listing of rabbis of Jerusalem.

• Yehudei Hamizrach Be'Eretz Israel.
  Jerusalem, 1836 (Hebrew).
  Mizrachi Jews in Israel.

• Les Noms des Juifs du Maroc
  Institut Montano, Madrid, 1978
  Extensive biographic listing with detailed sources, etc. Terrific for genealogists. This book which was out of print and long unavailable has now been reprinted and available in 2 volumes at Libreria Hebraica in Spain.  

• Malkhei Yeshurun.
  Jerusalem, 2000 (Hebrew).
  Extensive biographical listing of rabbis of Algeria

• Fez ve hakhameha.
  Jerusalem, 1979 (Hebrew).
  Fez and its Rabbis (from Yahas Fez)

• Index to Malkhei Tarshish.
  Jerusalem, Ben Zvi Institute, 1994 (Hebrew).
  Index

• Toldot Hakhamei Tunis.
  Bnei Brak, 1988 (Hebrew).
  Tunis rabbis.

• Dicionário Sefaradi de Sobrenomes.
  2003 (Portuguese/English).
  Order from Avotaynu or Livraria Cultura

Spain-Portugal

Malka, Jeffrey S.

• Sephardic Genealogy: Discovering Your Sephardic Ancestors and Their World.
  Avotaynu, 2002. Click here for Table of Contents and to order from Avotaynu.
  Indispensible. The ONLY comprehensive book for Sephardic Genealogy. -- History, research methods, PRE-EXPULSION AND INQUISITION records, archives, surnames, maps, bibliography, and more.

• Genealogia Hebraica. Portugal e Gibraltar.
  Lisboa 1990 (in portuguese).
  5 volumes of documented family trees (XVII to XX centuries)

• Jewish Travellers in the Middle Ages.
  Dover Publishers, 1987.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  19 fascinating first hand accounts. Entertaining and broadens your perspective.

• The sun at midday. Tales of a mediteranean family.
  Pantheon Books, NY 1997.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  Family story of the Alhadeff-Pinto families in Turkey, Rhodes, Egypt, S America, etc.

• La Cita En Buenos Aires Saga de una gran familia Sefaradi.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  Family story of the Alhadeff family of Rhodes.

• Libro verde de Aragón; documentos aragoneses publicados por d. Isidro de las Cagigas.
  Madrid, Compañía ibero-americana de publicaciones, 1929.
  Small book, general information, no index. (For original see below).

• Consvltations resolvtio, Libro verde de Aragón.
  Cæsaravgvstæ, apvd Ioannem a Lanaja et Qvartanet regni Aragonum, & Vniuersitatis typographym, 1623.
  Usually found in rare books collections.

• The Jews of Muslim Spain.
  Jewish Publications Society, 1993 Order from Amazon Books now.
  A "classic".

• Jews in the Crown of Aragon. 1213-1327.
  Central Archives History of the Jewish People, Jerusalem, 1995. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Thorough study of Jews in northeast Spain. History, culture, sexual mores, etc. Essential.

• Jewish economy in the Medieval Crown of Aragon, 1213-1327.
  E. J. Brill, 1997. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Companion volume providing the Jewish economy information.

• History of the Jews in Christian Spain.
  Jewish Publications Society, 1993. Order from Amazon Books now.
  A "classic".

• Os judeus sefarditas entre Portugal, Espanha e Marrocos.
  Lisbon: Edicoes Colibri: Associacao Portuguesa de Estudos Judaicos, 2004. Order from Amazon Books now.

• Conversos on Trial. The Inquisition in Ciudad Real.
  Magnes Press. The Hebrew University. Jerusalem 1981.
  About the Inquisition in Villa Real in La Mancha.

• The Jews of Tortosa, 1373-1492: regesta of documents from the Archivo Histo?rico de Protocolos de Tarragona.
  Jerusalem: Hispania Judaica, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1991
  Archival documents.

• The Expulsion of the Jews from Calatayud, 1492-1500: documents and regesta.
  Jerusalem: Hispania Judaica, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1990
  Archival documents.

• Jewish Communities in Valencia.
  Magnes Press. The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 1990.
  Good source for Valencia.

• The Other Jews. The Sephardim Today.
  Basic Books 1992.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  Thought provoking book about Sephardim today, both in Israel and around the world. Highly recommended.

• Los Hijos de Ibero-Franconia.
  Ediciones La Luz, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1981
  Good source of names. List of names on Ben Nahman's page.

• The Tortosa disputation : regesta of documents from the Archivo de la Corona de Aragon, Fernando I, 1412-1416.
  Jerusalem: Hispania Judaica, Dinur Institute, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1998
  Good source of names and archival extracts.

• The Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience.
  The Free Press, MacMillan, New York, 1992. Order from Amazon Books now.
  A must read.
  (And a good friend of my dad's).

• Jews, Christians and Muslims in Mediterranean world after 1492.
  Frank Cass and Co., 1992.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  Useful information.

• Retalls de la vida dels jueus: Barcelona, 1301--Besalú, 1325.
  Barcelona : R. Dalmau, 2000.
  Includes bibliographical references.

• Judios de Toledo.
  Institut Arias Montano, Madrid
  List of Jews who lived in Toledo and Court Documents about them. For list see Ben Nahman's page.

• Studies on the History of Portuguese Jews from Their Expulsion in 1497 Through Their Dispersion.
  New York: Sepher-Hermon Press for the American Society of Sephardic Studies, 2000.
  Order from Amazon Books now.

• The Inquisitors and the Jews in the New World.
  University of Miami Press
  Except for a brief introduction, the entire book is a listing of Inquisition Records in the New World. Good source for converso names in the New World.

• Los judíos en Cataluña.
  Barcelona : Ediciones Destino, 1985.
  Translation of: Els jueus i nosaltres.

• Fieis Portugueses: Judeus na peninsula iberica
  Portugal: Edições Acrópole, 1977.
  Based on doctoral thesis at Universidade de Granada, Spain.

• The Jews in the Crown of Aragon : regesta of the Cartas reales in the Archivo de la Corona de Aragon.
  Jerusalem: Hispania Judaica, Dinur Institute, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1993-1995
  Good source of names and archival extracts.

• The Jews in Barcelona, 1213-1291 : regesta of documents from the Archivo Capitular.
  Jerusalem: Hispania Judaica, Dinur Institute, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1988
  Archival extracts.

• Lisboa 1506, O Massacre Dos Judeus. [Lisbon, 1506, The Massacre of the Jews]
  Lisbon: Alêtheia Editores, 2007
  Historical account of the massacre of 4,000 New Christians in 1506 Lisbon.

• A Network of Converso Families in Early Modern Toledo.
  Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003
  Deals with the peri-expulsion period. Contains many genealogical family trees of prominent conversos, including Silva, Ayala, Franco, Cedillo, Santo Domingo, Cota, Sancho Sanchez de Toledo, Niño, Noez, Tejares, Husillo, Cisneros, Herrera, Ramirez, García de Toledo (La Gallinería), Avalos, Fenolete, Añovar, Sedeño y Mesa, Canales, Ortiz de Torres, Alcocer, Ceballaos, Nuñez, etc.

• La Expulsion de Los Judios de la Corona de Aragon.
  Institucion Fernando el Catolico, Zaragoza, 1991.
  Interesting.

• The Origins of the Inquisition in XIV century Spain.
  Random House, 1995. Order from Amazon Books now.
  A "classic" with a different point of view.

• Cristaos novos na Bahia.
  Sa?o Paulo : Edito?ra Perspectiva, 1972
  History of the crypto Jews of Northeastern Brazil by the foremost athority on the subject.

• Judeoconversos en la espana moderna.
  Editorial Mapfre, Paseo de Recoletos, 25 - 28004 Madrid 1992.

• The End of Days.
  Promethius books, Amherst, NY 1995. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Very readable, perceptive and informative. Highly recommended.

• The Expulsion 1492 Chronicles.
  Carmi House Press. P.O.Box 4796, North Hollywood, California 91607.
  Translations of contemporary writings about Sephardim and the Expulsion. Provides good insight.

• History of Jews in Aragon. Collection of Regesta and court documents 1213-1327.
  Magnes Press. Hebrew University 1978
  Good source of names from that period.

• La comunitat jueva de Barcelona entre 1348 i 1391 a través de la documentació notarial.
  Zaragoza : Certeza ; Girona : Ajuntament de Girona, 2003. (Also Barcelona : Fundació Noguera, 1999).
  Includes bibliographical references, several family trees (Benvenist, Cabritt, Cap-Forn, Bellcaire, Perfit-Alfaquim, Gracia), excerpts of notarial records, and index.

• Cants de noces dels jueus catalans.
  Barcelona, Curial, 1974.
  Poems in Hebrew and Latin characters.

• Per a una història de la Girona jueva.
  Girona : Ajuntament de Girona, 1988.
  2 vols. Vol 1: articles, some from encyclopaedias (about inscriptions, synagogues, family trees, etc.). Vol 2: historical studies, onomastic index.

• Judíos al servicio de Pedro el Grande de Aragón (1276-1285).
  Barcelona : Universidad de Barcelona, Facultad de Filología, 1983.
  Includes biographical references.

• The Spanish Inquisition.
  W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Out of date but an "old classic".

• Conversos, Inquisition and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain.
  University of Wisconsin Press 1995. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Much information about converso families and lists of converso names.

• Farewell Espana. The world of the Sephardim remembered.
  Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1974-1985. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Great book by a master historian.

• The Jews in Spain and Portugal.
  Garland Publishing, New York, 1975.
  History.

• Los judeus em Portugal.
  Madrid: Editorial MAPFRE, 1992.
  Studies including name and place index.

• Os judeus em Portugal no século XIV.
  Lisboa: Guimarães, 1979.
  Some biographic data, maps, bibliography, name index.

• Os judeus em Portugal no século XV.
  Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, 1982-(1984).
  Subtitled as "vol. 1" but no other vol. found. Maps, bibliography, no index.

• Sails of Hope: The Secret Mission of Christopher Columbus.
  New York: Macmillan, 1973
  From the famous Nazi hunter. Explores reasons to believe Columbus was a crypto-Jew, with supporting data.

North Africa

Malka, Jeffrey S.

• Sephardic Genealogy: Discovering Your Sephardic Ancestors and Their World.
  Avotaynu, 2002. Click here for Table of Contents and to order from Avotaynu.
  Indispensible. The ONLY comprehensive book for Sephardic Genealogy. -- History, research methods, archives, (including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Italy France records) surnames, maps, bibliography, and more.

• The Jews of North Africa During the Second World War.
  Wayne State University Press, 1989.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  A standard ion the field. Essential reading.

• Jewish Travellers in the Middle Ages.
  Dover Publishers, 1987.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  19 fascinating first hand accounts. Entertaining and broadens your perspective.

• The Jews of Muslim Spain.
  Published by Jewish Publications Society, 1993. Order from Amazon Books now.
  A "classic".

• Registres Matrimoniaux de la Communaute Juive Portugaise de Tunis. XVIII-XIX siecles.
  Oriens Judaicus, Institut Ben Zvi, Israel 1989.
  List of marriages that occurred in the Portuguese Jewish Community of Tunis which kept itself separate from the local Tuansa Jews and kept careful records. Excellent (French and Hebrew editions).

• Registres Matrimoniaux de la Communaute Juive Portugaise de Tunis. 1843-1854.
  Oriens Judaicus, Institut Ben Zvi, Israel 2000.
  Additional marriages (from an book of registers recently discovered by Attal) of the Portuguese Jewish Community of Tunis. Excellent.

• Les Juifs d'Afrique du Nord - Bibliographie; edition refondue et elargie.
  Jerusalem, Institut Ben-Zvi, 1993.
  Essential bibliography reference. Covers North Africa in general, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli. 10,062 citations.

• Ketubot d'Afrique du Nord a Jerusalem.
  Jerusalem, Ben Zvi Institute, 1984
  113 ketubot summaries in Ben Zvi Institute, (Jewish National University Library and Israel Museum)

• Manuscrits des Juifs des Maghreb a l'Institut Ben Zvi.
  Institute Ben Zvi, Israel.
  List of manuscripts of Jews of the Maghreb at the Institute Ben Zvi.

• Days of Honey: The Tunisian Boyhood of Rafael Uzan.
  Schocken Books, 1984.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  Biography of the early life of a Safed artist's life in a small Tunisian town and his imprisonment in a Nazi camp. By an award winning artist. Excellent.

• Receuil de textes Judeo-Arabes de Fes.
  Hautes Etudes Marocaines, Rabat 1939.
  Collection of Jewish primary documents from Fes.

• Between East and West. A History of the Jews in North Africa.
  Atheneum NY 1973.
  Translated from the french. Very informative.

• Studies in the History of the Jews of Morocco.
  Rubin Mass, Jerusalem 1976.
  Part in English, part in Hebrew.

• The Mellah Society.
  University of Chicago Press 1989. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Best description of Jewish society in pre-colonial Morocco by a noted Professor and expert. Highly recommended.

• Juifs d'Egypte, Images et Textes.
  2nd Ed. Les Editions du Scribe 1984.
  Compedium of photographs and images brought together by Jews from Egypt. Beautiful.

• Les Juifs du Maroc, Images et Textes.
  2nd Ed. Les Editions du Scribe 1991.
  Compedium of photographs and images brought together by Jews from Morocco. Beautiful.

• Les Juifs de Tunisie, Images et Textes.
  2nd Ed. Les Editions du Scribe 1991.
  Compedium of photographs and images brought together by Jews from Tunisia. Beautiful.

• The Other Jews. The Sephardim Today.
  Basic Books 1992.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  Thought provoking book about Sephardim today, both in Israel and around the world. Highly recommended.

• Jewish Society in Fez 1450-1700: Studies in Communal and economic life.
  Leiden. E. J. Brill 1980.
  Very thorough scholarly study of Jewish life in ancient Fez.

• Sephardi and Middle-east Jewries. History and culture in modern times.
  Indiana Univ Press, 1996.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  Focus is on today.

• Jewish life in Muslim Libya.
  Univ. Chicago Press 1990.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  Focus is on today.

• A History of the Jews in North Africa (2 vols).
  Leiden. E. J. Brill 1974. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Thorough and superb. An absolute must.

• Juifs et musulmans au Maroc, 1859-1948.
  Faculte des lettres et des sciences humaines-Rabat (1994).
  About the relations between Jews and Moslems in Morocco by an excellent Moroccan historian and diplomat.

• The man in the white sharkskin suit: my family’s exodus from Old Cairo to the New World.
  New York: Ecco, 2007. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Moving description of Jewish life in early 20th century Cairo and subsequent immigrant struggles in the US.

• Les Noms des Juifs du Maroc.
  Institut Montano, Madrid, 1978.
  Extensive biographic listing with detailed sources, etc. Terrific for genealogists

• The Jews of Egypt. 1920-1970.
  NY Univ Press, 1992. Order from Amazon Books now.
  The last decades of the the Jewish community of Egypt.

• The Alliance Israelite and the Jewish Communities of Morocco 1862-1962.
  Albany, State U of NY Press, 1983. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Filled with hard to find facts like all Laskier's books.

• North African Jewry in the 20th Century: The Jews of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.
  NYU Press, 1997. Order from Amazon Books now.
  By an expert on middle eastern Jewry. Filled with solid facts like all Laskier's books.

• La Nation Juive Portugaise: Livourne, Amsterdam, Tunis, 1591-1951.
  Paris and Montreal: L'Harmattan, 1999

• Jacob's Children in the Land of the Mahdi. Jews of the Sudan.
  Syracuse University Press 1997. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Only book in existence on this Sephardic community, which is largely composed of Jews from Egypt. Names and photos. Contains a full listing of all Jewish marriages in the Sudan with dates.

• Les juifs d'Algerie sous le regime de Vichy: 10 juillet 1940-3 novembre 1943.
  Harmattan, 1999.
  A vivid and detailed history of the Jews of Algeria under the Vichy government in WW II.

• Travail in an Arab Land. Order from Amazon Books now.
  University of Alabama Press 1989.
  Uncannily accurate and beautifully written travelogue of an eighteenth century Italian Jew's 4 year stay in Morocco. Highly recommended. (Excellent translation from the poetic Hebrew by Stillman).

• Historia de la Poblacion Judia de Melilla desde su reconquista por espana hasda 1936.
  Detailed study including census sheets, names, photos, and archival sources. By a historian who had lived in Melilla.

• Among the righteous: lost stories from the Holocaust's long reach into Arab lands. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Public Affairs, 2006. Historian describes suffering of the Jews of North Africa under Vichy and WWII including the little known 100+ brutal labor camps in North Africa, harsh anti-Jewish laws, torture and death. Essential to understanding North African Jewish suffering during WWII.

• The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times.
  Jewish Publication Society of America, 2003. Order from Amazon Books now.
  A standard in the field. Essential reading.

• Les Noms Des Juifs de Tunisie: Origines Et Significations.
  Paris: Harmattan, 2002. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Dictionary of Tunisian Jewish names. Has a number of errors but otherwise a good resource.

• La Saga des Familles. Les Juifs du Maroc et leurs noms.
  Stavit, Tel Aviv, 1983.
  Much smaller, but similar to Laredo's Noms des...... Does not indicate sources but has many old photos of family members.

• Une Histoire des familles; les Noms de Famille Juifs d'Afrique du Nord.
  Jerusalem, 1999.
  Includes biographies of past prominent persons and presently living ones.

• Juifs d'Andalousie et du Maghreb. (Jews of Andalusia and of the Maghreb).
  Paris, Maisonneuve and Larose, 1996. Order from Amazon Books now.
  Essential reading by the foremost living authority on the Maghreb and Jewish Andalusia.

• Two Thousand Years of Jewish Life in Morocco.
  KTAV Publishing House 2003. Order from Amazon Books now.
  English version of an earlier book by this noted authority.

New World and Caribbean
Malka, Jeffrey S.

• Sephardic Genealogy:
  Discovering Your Sephardic Ancestors and Their World.
  Avotaynu, 2002. Click here for Table of Contents and to order.
  Indispensible. The ONLY comprehensive book for Sephardic Genealogy. -- History, research methods, archives, surnames, maps, bibliography, and more. (Includes Holland, St. Thomas, St. Croix and Nevis, Curacao, St Eustatia, St Maarten, Jamaica, Argentina, Brazil, etc.).

• A Record of the Jews in Jamaica from the English Conquest to the Present Times.
  Kingston, Jamaica, The Jamaica Times Ltd., 1941.

• The Portuguese Jews of Jamaica.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  University Press of the West Indies (Canoe Press), 2000.

• The Jewish nation of the Caribbean : the Spanish-Portuguese Jewish settlements in the Caribbean and the Guianas.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  New York: Gefen Pub., 2002.

• The Jews of Jamaica; Tombstone Inscriptions. 1663-1880.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  Jerusalem, Ben Zvi Institute, 1997.
  Good source and index.

• The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your Heart.
  Order from Amazon Books now.

• Bridges to Cuba/Puentes a Cuba.
  Order from Amazon Books now.

• La Comunidad Hebrea De Cuba, La Memoria Y La Historia.
  Jerusalem: Instituto Abraham Harman de Judaismo Contemporaneo Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalem, 1996.

• Cuban-Jewish Journeys, Searching for Identity, Home, and History in Miami.
  Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2000.

• Cuban-Jewish Journeys: Searching for Identity, Home, and History in Miami.
  Jerusalem: Instituto Abraham Harman de Judaismo Contemporaneo Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalem, 1996.

• The Grandees. America's Sephardic Elite.
  Order from Amazon Books now.
  Sephardic version of "Our Crowd". About the early Sephardic families in the US.