Below are drafts of my chapters in progress. I post these online as I write them for the sake of transparency for those who have graciously agreed to do interviews with me, without which this book would not be possible. The drafts below are messy and incomplete, but I also welcome your thoughts if you want to correct my characterization of something you’ve told me, or if you’ve had an experience you’d like to share. Please email me at [email protected] to make a correction or tell me about your experience.

Part One

Introduction: The Old Stone Fort Remembered

Here’s to the Bizarre: Making the Early Memory of the Revolution

We’re not reenacting 1976: The Bicentennial and Beyond

Bugs in My Ear: Why People Reenact

Part Two

My Grandma Sewed Too: Connecting with the Public

We Can’t Tell the Reenactors About This: Research and Museums

The Black Bonnet Problem: Translating Research to Objects

Don’t Tell Anyone You Saw Me Here: Academic History and Reenacting

Part Three

Do You Guys Own Slaves? Race, Nationhood, and Reenacting

More Authentic Than a Beer Gut: Gender and Gender Play in Reenacting

The Buttons of War: Making a Business of Reenacting

High Stakes: Why Living History Matters