Paul Thompson

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

Industrial Relations Between Command & Market A Comparative Analysis Of Eastern Europe & China

Calling for a broader, new approach to social mobility research, Daniel Bertaux and Paul Thompson here move beyond pure statistics to use qualitative techniques - such as life stories and family case studies - to examine more closely the dynamics of mobility and address more fundamental sociological questions. Up to now, the extensive sociological literature on mobility has been based around the survey method. As a result, we have access to abundant statistical data, but there is little information available to explain how and why people follow particular life paths. To overcome these limitations, the authors have developed an alternative, complementary approach using life stories, case histories of whole families over several generations, or case studies of local communities. Employing the case-study approach does not prevent the identification of structural trends; on the contrary, it allows us to analyse those collective processes through their local effects, restoring the links with the classics of sociological thought. The authors, together with a group of researchers who have worked closely with them, tackle problems such as: - What exactly is transmitted between generations: is it wealth or land, occupational models or skills, social networks, or values and orientations? - What kind of assets can immigrants draw on? - How can a social elite survive the upheaval of a popular revolution? - What is the impact of marriage on the mobility of men and women? - How far can belonging to one locality rather than another, or choosing a particular house, shape mobility paths and aspirations? - Do dreams of mobility matter?

'This is a record of our version of grassroots theatre. The idea was to take a group of actors out to a farming community and build a play of what we could see and learn. There is no story or "plot" as such ... Nevertheless, we hope that you can see many stories woven into the themes of this play and that out of it will emerge a picture of a complex and living community.' - Paul Thompson

The action is based on the mythology surrounding the two Children's Crusades of 1212. A German boy, Nicholas, declares that God has commanded him to lead an army of children to Jerusalem to bring back the Cross. Thousands set off with him on the perilous journey. The mime sequences and the opportunities for improvisation make it an exciting experience for both the audience and the cast. The music is included in the text.8 girls, 13 boys

The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 might seem familiar ground to many readers with an interest in the colonial wars of the nineteenth century. Yet, there are many aspects of this conflict which historians have previously neglected. These sixteen studies, all based on extensive original research in Britain and South Africa, open up unexpected vistas by investigating entirely new aspects of the war, or by viewing those already known from a fresh perspective. Among the studies are investigations of the Zulu political and diplomatic responses to the British invasion. Also included are re-examinations of their strategy and tactics in the battles of Rorke's Drift and Khambula. Other studies throw the spotlight on the fascinating, but generally unknown low-intensity war along the borders of Zululand, and on the equally absorbing but sometimes amusing efforts in colonial Natal to prepare against a Zulu invasion.

The central thesis of this book is that the semantic conception is a logical methodologically and heuristically richer and more accurate account of scientific theorizing, and in particular of theorizing in evolutionary biology, than the more widely adhered to syntactic conception. In this book, the author outlines both the conceptions indicating the significant problems with the syntactic conception; explains and criticizes two influential syntactic-conception accounts of the structure of evolutionary theorizing. Thompson also argues that the semantic conception provides a richer and more accurate understanding than the syntactic conception of sociobiological explanation, of the testability of sociobiology, and of the role of culture and cognition in evolutionary explanations of human behavior.