Publisher's Synopsis
Near the end of his life, Confederate soldier Berry Benson wrote a passage that many reenactors now consider the clearest evocation of what they do: Who knows but again the old flags, ragged and torn, snapping in the wind, may face each other and flutter, pursuing and pursued, while the cries of victory fill a summer day? And after the battle, then the slain and wounded will arise and all will meet together under the two flags, all sound and well, and there will be talking and laughter and cheers, and all will say: Did it now seem real? Was it not as in the old days? Here, author Randal Allred picks up Berry Bensons thread, and through anecdotes, interviews with participants, and a keen analysis of his subject, he offers a study that is both penetrating and entertaining.
Near the end of his life, Confederate soldier Berry Benson wrote a passage that many reenactors now consider the best evocation of the spirit of what they do: Who knows but again the old flags, ragged and torn, snapping in the wind, may face each other and flutter, pursuing and pursued, while the cries of victory fill a summer day? And after the battle, then the slain and wounded will arise and all will meet together under the two flags, all sound and well, and there will be talking and laughter and cheers, and all will say: Did it now seem real? Was it not as in the old days? Here, author Randal Allred picks up Berry Benson's thread, and explores the ways in which reenactment is an attempt to remake, and often undo, the horrors of war.
Allred first puts the practices of living history (including Living Museums and medieval pageants) into their cultural and political contexts, and then moves on to discuss the history of reenacting itself. Further chapters consider reenacting as a hobby, as a cultural community (each group has its own form of discipline, quality control, group dynamics, and economics-and the practice overall has its own magazine, the ^ICamp Chase Gazette^R), and as an attempt to rework the narrative of the Civil War in ways that often make it turn out better for everybody. Reenactment is also a uniquely American form of theater, complete with audiences and stages. As Allred attempts to answer various questions about reenactment-Why the Civil War? Why this particular way of honoring it? Is this a form of historical catharsis? What are the stories being told on these battlefields? Are these people crazy or what?-he also offers anecdotes, interviews with participants, and keen analysis of the subject, resulting in a study that is both penetrating and entertaining. ^L^DBLFuses various approaches to this phenomenon, including many derived from literature and art, which have not been fully explored in previous works on the subject ^L^DBLThe author is an authority on the subject, as well as a reenactor himself
