Customer Reviews

Living History

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I was very excited to see this book. There is really very little written about the theory and practice of living history and reenactment, and I thought this would be the cure. Well, it is and it isn't. Probably the best thing about this book is the photographs. From the ancient Romans and Celts, through the Middle Ages, Napoleonic Wars to the two World Wars (including a lot in between), the full color pictures are gorgeous. The text also offers a lot in terms of describing sources for research materials and reproduction costumes and equipment.

My biggest beef with this book is that it addresses only the very limited scope of living history in Britain. As a living historian in the United States, my experiences have been very different from what the book describes. The author also only describes a single, or at most two or three, groups that reenact each of the various time periods. While he certainly chooses some very good groups, their breadth of interest and experience is necessarily limited. I would have preferred to see a broader selection of societies sampled.

It's nice to see somebody at least attempting to approach the world of living history. Perhaps the author will take on living history in North America for a future edition of this book. There's a huge and varied world outside of Britain that deserves a look too!