Oral history gathers important material that might otherwise be lost forever. Not everyone can write, but with a keen and devoted listener and recorder, even those who might not write can weave a life story that has value for others — for  families and friends, descendants, and a wider audience for first-hand history. Among our

“The central fiction—New York City resisting the draft—is masterfully contained within a larger fiction— the Civil War ending in a stalemate, with a second war following a few years later. Perry’s material is huge and complex, but he is always in control of it. I am still under its spell.” (Bruce Haywood)