War Games: Inside the World of Twentieth-Century War Reenactors

Rating:
Summary: An honest account
Review: Being a reenactor of both world wars, I am pretty used to people outside of "the hobby" putting it down. While reenactors span a remarkably wide demographic, from high school drop-outs to PhD.s, from right-wing Republicans to left-wing Democrats, from conscientious objectors to combat veterans, we are often painted by academics and the national media with the broad brush of all being gun-crazed proto-fascists in desperate need of love and shock therapy. It is with this in mind that I approached Thompson's War Games with a mixture of both anticipation and dread; anticipation because I was excited to see somebody actually trying to explore the unique hobby in which I participate, and dread because I was afraid that the book would simply reinforce the incorrect stereotypes without attempting any sort of in-depth analysis of why people reenact.

Fortunately, my anticipation was richly rewarded by War Games. Thompson, having spent seven years attending reenactments and spending a considerable amount of time with reenactors, has successfully dug beneath the surface to get to the fundamental question of why people reenact. The situations and personalities that she describes are very familiar, and in my opinion, are accurately represented. She raises many of the existential questions of reenacting that I have asked myself, and the answers she provides offer a great deal of insight.

While Thompson obviously has a great deal of affection, and dare I say respect, for reenactors, she does not sugar coat the hobby. The fundamental issues of what represents "authenticity" and what relationship reenactors maintain with veterans and the public are often bitterly divisive among reenactors. Thompson also does not ignore the moral implications of reenactors portraying soldiers in the armies of America's enemies. But she addresses all of these issues with fairness and balance.

I would hope that everybody who reenacts, or is considering reenacting, 20th century wars reads this book. More than that, though, I would hope that those who question the propriety or sanity of reenacting will read this book with an open mind. I certainly don't expect everybody to accept the hobby. But I would hope that, through reading War Games, these people would at least develop a better understanding of why people reenact.

Rating:
Summary: An honest account
Review: Being a reenactor of both world wars, I am pretty used to people outside of "the hobby" putting it down. While reenactors span a remarkably wide demographic, from high school drop-outs to PhD.s, from right-wing Republicans to left-wing Democrats, from conscientious objectors to combat veterans, we are often painted by academics and the national media with the broad brush of all being gun-crazed proto-fascists in desperate need of love and shock therapy. It is with this in mind that I approached Thompson's War Games with a mixture of both anticipation and dread; anticipation because I was excited to see somebody actually trying to explore the unique hobby in which I participate, and dread because I was afraid that the book would simply reinforce the incorrect stereotypes without attempting any sort of in-depth analysis of why people reenact.

Fortunately, my anticipation was richly rewarded by War Games. Thompson, having spent seven years attending reenactments and spending a considerable amount of time with reenactors, has successfully dug beneath the surface to get to the fundamental question of why people reenact. The situations and personalities that she describes are very familiar, and in my opinion, are accurately represented. She raises many of the existential questions of reenacting that I have asked myself, and the answers she provides offer a great deal of insight.

While Thompson obviously has a great deal of affection, and dare I say respect, for reenactors, she does not sugar coat the hobby. The fundamental issues of what represents "authenticity" and what relationship reenactors maintain with veterans and the public are often bitterly divisive among reenactors. Thompson also does not ignore the moral implications of reenactors portraying soldiers in the armies of America's enemies. But she addresses all of these issues with fairness and balance.

I would hope that everybody who reenacts, or is considering reenacting, 20th century wars reads this book. More than that, though, I would hope that those who question the propriety or sanity of reenacting will read this book with an open mind. I certainly don't expect everybody to accept the hobby. But I would hope that, through reading War Games, these people would at least develop a better understanding of why people reenact.

Rating:
Summary: Objective and fair
Review: I'm a WW2 re-enactor and I've been told I'm supposed to hate this book, the author and everything she stands for.
I'd heard about the book on a Monday on a re-enactor message board, and by that Wednesday I'd read the whole thing.
Now, the chips are clearly stacked against author Jenny Thompson. First, she's not really a re-enactor. To make it worse, she's a GIRL. Double ick!
I cannot review this book as anything other than what I am; a person who grew up doing re-enacting events. However, I think I have the ability to take a step back and call a spade a garden tool.
Thompson hung with several re-enacting groups over a long period of time and went to several events during that time. In fact, after looking at her photo, I'm pretty sure I remember once seeing her at an event, as small women are sort of rare at these events.
A lot of guys in the hobby are really ticked about this book, saying it makes them look bad, she's an outsider and doesn't know what she's talking about. You know the type, "I'm looking in a mirror and I don't like what I see, so it must be the person who made the mirror." Sadly, many of them haven't read the book, and some say they won't as they KNOW what it will say. Those people just won't see reason and without reading this book, they should keep their mouths closed.
I have read it. I find it a fair, hold-no-punches explaination of the hobby. Thompson might be an outsider, but I feel she went into her research with an open mind. She reported what she saw. It's as simple as that.
Personally, I've always known people who do this are nuts. What always baffled me was the sanctimonious nonsense people attach to themselves, like it's some lofty higher calling or something. Any justification they can find when simply saying they just like doing it should be enough. They just need to get over themselves...
The book does a good job of calling BS on the hobby in general, asking the questions such as if it's for the vets then why so few events public, stuff like that. These are questions I've asked all along, and it's high time that all of us who do this should take a step back and look at what we are.

Rating:
Summary: Honest appraisal of what the author saw in the hobby
Review: Since I write about reenacting stuff for the MVPA (with an audience of 10,000 readers) I felt I needed to read the book. At times it made me cringe and other times it was brutally honest about the hobby, however I think she captured what she saw. I just completed the book two nights ago.

Most troubling to me were the frequent firing squads and atrocities she observed at events, and how things such as racism and sexism were thinly veiled in preservation of authenticity. My 21 years in the hobby I have only seen 1 firing squad (done as a big joke for a friend of mine who accidently shot his squad leader during a battle back in 1983, my first year in the hobby), and I have never seen execution of prisoners except when people are doing stupid hollywood games during actions on the objective at public events.

I do take exception with her history of WWII reenacting, because it does trace back to 1975 in the US and much earlier in Europe. I know of people that attended events in 1975 in the midwest, so her view of how it got started is very "east Coast" in my opinion. In fact, the entire book is written from events she attended on the east coast, to include many FIGs. I have not yet been to FIG, but I hear the horror stories after the fact, so perhaps this is not the best judge of character for the hobby. I have not been to east coast events however I think the hobby has different flavors in the different parts of the country, so perhaps her view is skewed by what she saw in her region. Also, I think the hobby has made several big strides in some areas she complains about. her book is a reflection of the hobby in the Mid-90s, and it seems to have moved forward in some areas.

It can be a bit harsh to read, much like anything that challenges your day to day values and assumptions that you live your life, however I think despite the wincing I had reading it, it seems to be on target. It also shows several areas that the hobby needs cleaning up. If you don't want an honest appraisal of your hobby don't read it. If you aren't afraid to look deep into your soul of why you do this, then read it.






Rating:
Summary: Reenacting's First Ethnography
Review: The majority of books about reenacting fall into either the category of photo collections of reenacting events or "how to" manuals. One of the few books that has gone deeper into the subject was Tony Horowitz' Conferates in the Attic. Horowitz used the story of a colorful hardcore reenactor to examine America's fascination with its Civil War. His approach was typical of the "New Journalist" style of writing. Although a participant and observor, Horowitz was ultimately a talented journalist in pursuit of a good story. Reenacting was the vehicle he used to tell his tale.

Jenny Thompson was also a participant observor in search of an interesting story. She spent seven years going to reenacting events and joined several reenacting units. Thompson used her training as a scholar to produce Reenacting's first ethnography. As a social scientist, her objectives were much more amibitious than Tony Horowitz. Thompson wants to explain the hobby of reenacting and the motivations of the people who participate in the hobby.

I would not recommend this book for anyone who is impatient with intellectuals and scholarly discourse. By its very nature, an ethnography is a set of generalizations that are used as a tool to find deeper meanings. I would suspect that many people in the reenacting community would find this book to be overly intellectual.

What I found to be so interesting about this book is that it is the first time that I have ever come across a book that discusses the motivations of what must be a decent percentage of the American male population that is fascinated by the many facets of war. As one of these people, on an intellectual basis, I know that war is a tragedy and that I would never want to participate in a war. Nevertheless, I am fascinated by military history and war's material culture. Although, I am not a Twentieth Century reenactor, this book nevertheless still spoke to me. I saw a lot of myslef in the people Thompson writes about.

Rating:
Summary: Reenacting's First Ethnography
Review: The majority of books about reenacting fall into either the category of photo collections of reenacting events or "how to" manuals. One of the few books that has gone deeper into the subject was Tony Horowitz' Conferates in the Attic. Horowitz used the story of a colorful hardcore reenactor to examine America's fascination with its Civil War. His approach was typical of the "New Journalist" style of writing. Although a participant and observor, Horowitz was ultimately a talented journalist in pursuit of a good story. Reenacting was the vehicle he used to tell his tale.

Jenny Thompson was also a participant observor in search of an interesting story. She spent seven years going to reenacting events and joined several reenacting units. Thompson used her training as a scholar to produce Reenacting's first ethnography. As a social scientist, her objectives were much more amibitious than Tony Horowitz. Thompson wants to explain the hobby of reenacting and the motivations of the people who participate in the hobby.

I would not recommend this book for anyone who is impatient with intellectuals and scholarly discourse. By its very nature, an ethnography is a set of generalizations that are used as a tool to find deeper meanings. I would suspect that many people in the reenacting community would find this book to be overly intellectual.

What I found to be so interesting about this book is that it is the first time that I have ever come across a book that discusses the motivations of what must be a decent percentage of the American male population that is fascinated by the many facets of war. As one of these people, on an intellectual basis, I know that war is a tragedy and that I would never want to participate in a war. Nevertheless, I am fascinated by military history and war's material culture. Although, I am not a Twentieth Century reenactor, this book nevertheless still spoke to me. I saw a lot of myslef in the people Thompson writes about.