Oral History

The intersection of oral history and military history has resulted in major changes in the way military history is constructed, written, and received. Through the deliberate effort to record and preserve an individual’s experiences as he or she remembers them, the inclusion of oral history in the research and writing of military history has produced a much more rich and nuanced treatment of the past, and has opened doors to new areas of study in military history. Strengthening the traditional approach to military history—which focused mainly on primary documentary evidence, such as afteraction reports and unit records—the use of oral history reflects the humanistic turn in the history profession over the past several decades and helps provide a more full understanding of military matters. This ...