1. The Coodes of Breage and St Austell, the Coads of North Hill/Liskeard and the Coads of Stithians/Truro (CORNISH COADS, descended from a Lansallos family)
2. The Coads of St Stephen in Brannel and of Ermington Devon (DEVON COADS, quite likely descended from soldier gentry, Richard Coad of Gidleigh)
3. The Coads of Looe and the Coades of Crowan, probably a distaff line from Kelliowe/Callaway near Liskeard.

The book, which is 700 pages long, tells the story of the ancient surname of Code and how a network of descendants unravelled the descent of unrelated Coads and their Coode cousins, who have lived as neighbours wherever the Cornish congregated. It expounds the detailed history and genealogy of these families at home and abroad, plus a number of stray and Irish lines. It has three parts

1. The first four Chapters are a general summary of the surname, its early history and the places in which it flourished
2. Chapters 5-15 give histories of the different families
3. Part 3 gives the story of a number of famous people bearing the surname, and important events in which they were involved - the sinking of the Bismarck, the Monmouth Rebellion, artificial stone statues, the Battle of Algiers, revolt in Maryland, rotten borough corruption, temperance agitation, eccentric millionaires, the Victorian Poor laws, Peak Frean biscuits, boll weevil control, bell ringing, theatre criticism, pregnant dairymaids, suicidal poets, African shellfish, corrupt and treacherous nobles, lavish goldfields funerals, vagrant ex-publicans, escaped lunatics, and the doping of racehorses  

 While the study is essentially completed, every so often new developments arise, which have led to half a dozen updated editions of the book. The last (hardcover) was in 2015.

All three families lived within a few miles of Liskeard Corwall in the 1520s. The variant COAD was unknown before 1600; prior to that it was CODE or COODE.