This paper begins by situating Alessandro Portelli's oral history in the context of the postwar reaction in Italy against
the
historical theories of the influential Neapolitan philosopher Benedetto Croce. It then proceeds to a discussion of Portelli's
methodology by reference above all to the essay "The Death of Luigi Trastulli", whose starting point is the death at the hands of the police of a young Terni steelworker in 1949. The paper shows that Portelli's oral history methodology was inspired by his path-breaking discovery that erroneous memories possess historical value. It then concludes by raising some possible criticisms of the methodology.