Historical Reenactment - Publications

Publications

Many publications have covered historical reenactment and living history. Prominent among these are the Camp Chase Gazette, Smoke and Fire News, two different magazines named Living History, and Skirmish Magazine.

The Medieval Soldier by Gerry Embleton and John Howe (1995) is a popular book on the topic, which has been translated into French and German. It was followed by Medieval Military Costume in Colour Photographs.

For the Napoleonic Period there are two books of interest that cover life in the military at that time and living history: The Napoleonic Soldier by Stephen E. Maughan, 1999 and Marching with Sharpe by B.J. Bluth, 2001. Various Napoleonic reenactment groups now cover the history of their associated regiment as well as try to describe and illustrate how they approach recreating the period. The aim to be as authentic as is possible from the various source materials has led many serious reenactment societies to set up their own research groups to verify their understanding of the uniforms, drill and all aspects of the life that they strive to portray. In this way reenactment plays a vital role in bringing history to life, keeping history alive and in expanding the knowledge and understanding of the period.

In the UK a number of small publishing houses have been established to disseminate knowledge initially of the English Civil War but latterly of earlier periods as well. The largest are Stuart Press and Partizan Press.

Little has been published about re-enactment in the mainstream market, except for press articles. One exception is the book "I believe in Yesterday: My adventures in Living History" by Tim Moore, which recounts his experiences trying out different periods of re-enactment and the people he meets and things he learns whilst doing so.