oral histories

Explore a curated collection of oral history books capturing firsthand accounts and personal narratives. Dive into authentic stories and preserved memories from diverse voices and perspectives.

The Emperor Cover
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The Emperor

by Ryszard Kapuscinski

A "sensitive, powerful ... history" (The New York Review of Books) of a man living amidst nearly unimaginable pomp and luxury while his people teetered netween hunger and starvation. Haile Selassie, King of Kings, Elect of God, Lion of Judah, His Most Puissant Majesty and Distinguished Highness the Emperor of Ethiopia, reigned from 1930 until he was overthrown by the army in 1974. While the fighting still raged, Ryszard Kapuscinski, Poland's leading foreign correspondent, traveled to Ethiopia to seek out and interview Selassie's servants and closest associates on how the Emperor had ruled and why he fell. This is Kapuscinski's rendition of their accounts—humorous, frightening, sad, groteque.
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ID: 0375726292
(Type: books)
Shah of Shahs Cover
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Shah of Shahs

by Ryszard Kapuscinski

"Insightful and important.... A readable, timely and valuable contribution to the understanding of the revolutionary forces at work in Iran.... The reader almost becomes a participant." —The New York Times Book Review In Shah of Shahs Kapuscinski brings a mythographer's perspective and a novelist's virtuosity to bear on the overthrow of the last Shah of Iran, one of the most infamous of the United States' client-dictators, who resolved to transform his country into "a second America in a generation," only to be toppled virtually overnight. From his vantage point at the break-up of the old regime, Kapuscinski gives us a compelling history of conspiracy, repression, fanatacism, and revolution. Translated from the Polish by William R. Brand and Katarzyna Mroczkowska-Brand.
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Working

by Studs Terkel

Men and women representing a variety of occupations, describe the daily routine of their jobs and express their grievances, aims, and dreams
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Hard Times

by Studs Terkel

Receates the character and atmosphere of this dramatic era in a collage of recollections by both well-known and abscure Americans.
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The Good War

 

No summary available.
Underground Cover
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Underground

by Haruki Murakami

In this haunting work of journalistic investigation, Haruki Murakami tells the story of the horrific terrorist attack on Japanese soil that shook the entire world. On a clear spring day in 1995, five members of a religious cult unleashed poison gas on the Tokyo subway system. In attempt to discover why, Haruki Murakmi talks to the people who lived through the catastrophe, and in so doing lays bare the Japanese psyche. As he discerns the fundamental issues that led to the attack, Murakami paints a clear vision of an event that could occur anytime, anywhere.
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ID: 0877455031
(Type: books)