Division Street, Studs Terkel s first book of oral history, established his reputation as America s foremost oral historian and as one of those rare thinkers who is actually willing to go out and talk to the incredible people of this country (in the words of Tom Wolfe).

Viewing the inhabitants of a single city, Chicago, as a microcosm of the nation at large, Division Street chronicles the thoughts and feelings of some seventy people from widely varying backgrounds in terms of class, race, and personal history. From a mother and son who migrated from Appalachia to a...