Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0415343038, Paperback)

The Oral History Reader is a comprehensive, international anthology of major, 'classic' articles and cutting-edge pieces on the theory, method and use of oral history. Arranged in five thematic sections, the collection details issues in the theory and practice of oral history and covers influential debates in its development over the past fifty years. This second edition has been fully updated to include the most recent articles on key issues such as:
* interviewing methods and the oral history relationship
* the use of testimony in truth and reconciliation politics
* memory and interpretation
* the digital revolution and new technologies for the creation, use and dissemination of oral history
* community oral history projects
* memory and history.
Including new introductions to each of the articles, each section contains an overall introduction which contextualizes the selection by reviewing key issues and relevant literature. Extensive cross-referencingand indexing provides an aid to research and a crucial comparative dimension.
This comprehensive volume illustrates similarities and differences in oral history from around the world, including examples from North and South America, Britain, Australasia, Europe and Africa. It also details the subjects - such as women's history, family history, gay and lesbian history, ethnic history and disability history - to which oral history has made a significant contribution. Including an updated bibliography and useful contacts list, this second edition of The Oral History Reader is an essential tool for all students of modern history, memory studies, sociology, anthropology, media studies, cultural and heritage studies, gerontology, archives, library and information studies.