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The title refers to American historian Michael Frisch’s idea that oral history is an approach to perceiving and conceptualising the past that is located symbolically between ‘lay’ individual or collective memory and ‘big’ political history. The book introduces the field of oral history in its theoretical and practical perspectives not only to the broad research community but also to the interested lay public. The theoretically oriented part of the publication is devoted to the terminology of the field, its beginning and development in the Czech environment and in the international context, as well as to the constantly discussed issue of memory in relation to oral history. The more practically oriented part deals with the possibilities and pitfalls of conducting oral history research. It then provides a contemporary overview of analytical approaches, updated reflections on the interpretative possibilities of oral history sources, and, finally, a discussion of questions of ethics and legislation as an essential part of oral history.

The third, updated and expanded edition of this handbook reflects the latest findings and experiences connected in particular with the multiple impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on oral history research, shifts in the field of digitisation and debates over data privacy issues, as well as the effects of current military conflicts, changes in the social climate, and geopolitical shifts on research in the field of contemporary history.