This volume brilliantly advances our understanding of the use of narrative in the social sciences. It brings together contemporary work on narrative theory and methods and presents a fascinating range of case-studies, from Princess Diana's Panorama interview to the memoirs of the wives of US nuclear scientists.

Introduction, Molly Andrews, Shelley Day Sclater, Michael Rustin, Corinne Squire, Amal Treacher; Part 1 Narrative and culture; intro_1 Introduction, Corinne Squire; Chapter 1 Narrative, civil society and public culture, Ronald N. Jacobs; Chapter 2 Resurrective practice and narrative, Clive Scale; Chapter 3 Wedding bells and baby carriages, Suzanna Danuta Walters; Chapter 4 Narratives as bad faith, Ian Craib; Part 2 Narrative and life history; intro_2 Introduction, Molly Andrews; Chapter 5 When the story's over, Mark Freeman; Chapter 6 A cautious ethnography of socialism, Zdenek Konopasek, Molly Andrews; Chapter 7 'Papa's bomb', Carol Wolkowitz; Chapter 8 Betrayals, trauma and self-redemption?, Tom Wengraf; Part 3 Narrative and discourse; intro_3 Introduction, Shelley Day Sclater; Chapter 9 Narrative, discourse and the unconscious, Wendy Hollway, Tony Jefferson; Chapter 10 Fictional(ising) identity?, Helen Malson; Chapter 11 'Let them rot', Marion V. Smith; Chapter 12 Narrative and the discursive (re)construction of events, Jackie Abell, Elizabeth H. Stokoe, Michael Billig; Chapter 13 Conclusion, Phil Bradbury, Shelley Day Sclater;

Co-Directors of the Centre for Narrative Research in the Social Sciences, University of East London.,
Co-Director of the Centre for Adoption and Identity Studies, University of East London.