Man Of War by Charlie Schroeder

 

Charlie Schroeder, a writer, pubic radio producer and actor, had an idea.  He wondered what made people, mostly men, want to reenact battles from various wars?  Charlie is a progressive and he expected that most of the people he would meet would be conservative if not far rightwing.  But he set out to find out what drives the whole genre of reenactment.

Over the year he spent doing this, he flew over thirty thousand miles and drove over five thousand.  He found groups in all areas of the country and they reenacted battles from many wars.  Charlie participated in ten reenactments.  There were the Romans, Civil War, Revolutionary War, Nazis, the French and Indian War, Vikings, rowers in bateaus and Vietnam.  To end his time, Charlie even devised and carried out his own reenactment in California; that of the monk who founded the majority of the Spanish missions back in the 1700's.

What he found were people who had a reverence for history, for learning how their ancestors lived and worked and what they found compelling enough to fight for.  He found that most were very generous with their time and knowledge but that there were some racists as well as historians.  Overall, he found it a fascinating experience that he was glad to have experienced.  This book is recommended for nonfiction readers.