Man of War

Since our local library (Bless them!!!) has remained open to check out Reserved Books at the front door when they arrive at your local branch, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to whittle away at my electronic "To Read" list of suspended holds.  As I browsed my list, Charlie Schroeder's book Man of War - My Adventures in the World of Historical Reenactment (#894) piqued my fancy.

A sometime contributor to NPR, and an actor who couldn't make it in LA, Schroeder was chafing at his desk job.  After he and his wife attended an LA area reenactors' festival, Charlie decided to pitch a book about his adventures with groups across the country which reenact different periods of time - WWII, Civil War, Revolutionary War, Vikings and Romans and a few other periods and places as well.  His proposal was accepted, and he was off on a year of participating in Living History.

His experiences are amusing, tedious, terrifying and downright dirty, but through it all, he met a multitude of interesting characters who do what they do for a wide range of reasons; some like the mostly male bonding that goes on, some the dress-up aspects, but many, like Charlie, are hooked on the history.  They want to know everything about the time period they've chosen to reenact - from the weapons to the food to the clothes to how to reconstruct authentic versions of each.  By the end of the year it took to gather materials for this book, he knew that he wanted to reenact something for himself that had happened in the Los Angeles where he currently lives.  How he found his project and what he did to carry it out comprise the last chapter of this entertaining and enlightening book, but you'll have to read it for yourself to find out what he did and why.  You won't be disappointed.