War stories: Invited commentary on… Documented combat exposure of US veterans seeking treatment for combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder

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Abstract
In 2005 King's College London and the Oral History Society are hosting a conference on the oral history of the Second World War (http://www.oralhistory.org.uk). The conference will bring together research that starts with the verbal testimonies of both combatants and civilians involved in the conflict. But note that I write ‘starts with’ those oral testimonies. I doubt that any of the presenters will argue that these testimonies are the only source of information we have on what happened during the war. All will agree on the importance of listening carefully to the stories told, but also of interpreting, analysing and supplementing them with information from other sources. Many of the papers to be presented also look at how narratives have changed over time. Testimonies of the war from the former East Germany, for example, have changed dramatically since the fall of the Berlin Wall, a process that has happened in all of the countries of the former Soviet bloc, albeit in different ways. War stories change according to who is doing the telling, who is doing the listening, and why the story is being told now.