The Voice of the Past: Oral History (Opus Books)

by PaulThompson (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1988

  $3.31

  In this revised edition, Paul Thompson argues that oral history can help to create a truer picture of the past, documenting the lives and feeling of all kinds of people, and that its value has been neglected by conventional historians. The effect of collecting oral evidence, he claims, can be to bind together communities and promote contact between generations. The development of oral history is traced through its past and into the future, demonstrating how it can be evaluated alongside the traditional sources of history to construct a more democratic record of the past. There is a new chapter on Memory and the self examining the therapeu tic value of reminiscence.

• Used

  Paperback
  2000

  $3.31

  In this revised edition of Paul Thompson's successful book, he traces oral history through its own past and weighs up the recent achievements of this international movement. He challenges myths of historical scholarship and looks at the use of oral sources by the historian. The author offers advice on designing a project; discusses reliability of oral evidence; considers the context of the development of historical writing including it's social function.; and looks at memory, the self and the use of drama and therapy. This new edition has been substantially revised and updated and includes an expanded discussion of narrative approaches and new technology used in the recording of information. Reviews from the second edition of Voice of the Past: Oral History 'Paul Thompson is a passionate and convincing crusader in the cause of oral history' The Times Educational Supplement 'It must be rare in modern academic life to replace your own unrivalled book after 10 years with an even better one, but he has done so. His new material on memory and the self, and on drama as therapy, should be read by literary critics in their infancy.' The Independent '...the first book to combine a theory of oral history, the technical processes involved, and a road map of where oral evidence fits into the landscape of western historiography. ' American Historical Review