Oral history gives history back to the people in their own words. And in giving a past, it also helps them towards a future of their own making. Oral history and life stories help to create a truer picture of the past and the changing present, documenting the lives and feelings of all kinds of people, many otherwise hidden from history. It explores personal and family relationships and uncovers the secret cultures of work. It connects public and private experience, and it highlights the experiences of migrating between cultures. At the same time it can bring courage to the old, meaning to communities, and contact between generations. Sometimes it can offer a path for healing divided communities and those with traumatic memories. Without it the history and sociology of our time would be poor and narrow. In this fourth edition of his pioneering work, fully revised with Joanna Bornat, Paul Thompson challenges the accepted myths of historical scholarship. He discusses the reliability of oral evidence in comparison with other sources and considers the social context of its development. He looks at the relationship between memory, the self and identity. He traces oral history through its own past and weighs up the recent achievements of a movement which has become international, with notably strong developments in North America, Europe, Australia, Latin America, South Africa and the Far East, despite resistance from more conservative academics. This new edition combines the classic text of The Voice of the Past with many new sections, including especially the worldwide development of different forms of oral history and the parallel memory boom, as well as discussions of theory in oral history and of memory, trauma and reconciliation. It offers a deep social and historical interpretation along with succinct practical advice on designing and carrying out a project, The Voice of the Past remains an invaluable tool for anyone setting out to use oral history and life stories to construct a more authentic and balanced record of the past and the present.

Richard Rushing has compiled a further 365 daily devotional readings to take you through the year with the Puritans. Building on Voices from the Past (volume 1), Voices From the Past 2 is an additional treasury of wisdom from such authors as Stephen Charnock, Thomas Manton, David Clarkson, Thomas Brooks, John Bunyan, and Jonathan Edwards, and others. The editor has painstakingly selected these readings from their sources, some of which are still widely available in print, others of which are more scarce. Readers will find these choice extracts to be excellent 'thoughts for the day', and will frequently find themselves wanting to explore more of the writings of these authors of the past.

Selections from: A sure guide to heaven / Joseph Alleine -- Practical works / Richard Baxter -- Human nature in its fourfold state / Thomas Boston -- Writings of John Bradford / John Bradford -- Works of Thomas Brooks / Thomas Brooks -- Complete works / John Bunyan -- The saints' happiness / Jeremiah Burroughes -- Select works of Thomas Case / Thomas Case -- Spiritual counsels / Thomas Charles -- The existence and attributes of God / Stephen Charnock -- Works of David Clarkson / David Clarkson -- Works of Jonathan Edwards / Jonathan Edwards -- The fountain of life / John Flavel -- Works of John Flavel / John Flavel -- Justifying faith / Thomas Goodwin -- The Christian in complete armour / William Gurnall -- Works of Ezekiel Hopkins / Ezekiel Hopkins -- By faith, Edinburgh ; Psalm 119 ; Works of Thomas Manton / Thomas Manton -- A name in heaven the truest ground of joy / Matthew Mead -- Puritan sermons, 1659-1689 / Miscellaneous -- Works of John Owen / John Owen -- The loveliness of Christ / Samuel Rutherford -- Works of Richard Sibbes / Richard Sibbes -- Works of George Swinnock / George Swinnock -- Sermons of Samuel Ward / Samuel Ward -- The beatitudes ; The Lord's prayer / Thomas Watson -- The Ten Commandments / Thomas Watson.

This book explores a central methodological issue at the heart of studies of the histories of children and childhood. It questions how we understand the perspectives of children in the past, and not just those of the adults who often defined and constrained the parameters of youthful lives. Drawing on a range of different sources, including institutional records, interviews, artwork, diaries, letters, memoirs, and objects, this interdisciplinary volume uncovers the voices of historical children, and discusses the challenges of situating these voices, and interpreting juvenile agency and desire. Divided into four sections, the book considers children's voices in different types of historical records, examining children's letters and correspondence, as well as multimedia texts such as film, advertising and art, along with oral histories, and institutional archives.

"Toward the end of the seventeenth century, Naoki Sakai maintains, a radical change took place in Japanese discourse--the sudden emergence of multiple new possibilities of conceptualizing the world. In this brilliant and searching reinterpretation of the cultural history of the Tokugawa period, Sakai traces this shift across a spectrum of artistic and critical texts from puppet theater to Confucian commentary. He asserts that during this time a new emphasis was placed on textual performance, practice, and communication, and he illuminates its ethical and political consequences." "Sakai draws upon the insights of recent critical theory as he explores the historical consciousness of texts and the self-consciousness of language itself. Analyzing the conditions of discourse formation, he seeks to suggest how language may be used to inform historical investigation. He first considers the Confucian philosopher Ito Jinsai's critiques of Neo-Confucianism. Showing how the historical other was constructed and theorized, Sakai discusses key works of visual art, performance pieces, poetry, and wakun, a genre of graphic translation. Finally, he considers writings representative of intellectual movements that began to construct the identity of the Japanese language and culture." "Intellectual historians, specialists in Japanese culture, anthropologists working with historical texts, literary theorists, linguists, philosophers, and others interested in East Asian thought will welcome this rich and challenging book."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Describes the circumstances leading up to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the political and military events of the Persian Gulf War, using quotes from people directly involved.

This book focuses on retelling many of the important episodes in the global past (c.1500–present) from African points of view. It discusses the events and trends of global significance: the Atlantic slave system, the industrial revolution, World Wars I and II, and decolonization.