'Trauma and Public Memory breaks the comfortable and distanced mold of media-circumscribed public memory and exposes us to the complex, contradictory, and seemingly ineffable ways in which personal experiences of the traumatic become collective ones. We read of events so challenging as to defy naming, of events so searing that public memory demands a reassuring narrative, the harm obscured. The editors have preserved the freshness and depth of the conversation among authors, and the unusual organizational scheme of coupling overview essays with interviews and concluding 'reflections' conveys the immediacy and vibrancy of the dialogue among contributors. This book deserves a wide readership and promises to shape the conversation for some time.' - Robert D. Hicks, Director, Mütter Museum/Historical Medical Library, Philadelphia, USA