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Book, 2004
Current format, Book, 2004, , Available .
Book, 2004
Current format, Book, 2004, , Available . Offered in 0 more formats
The first in-depth, insider's study of the strange and often shocking world of twentieth-century war re-enactors D-Day with beach umbrellas in the distance? Troops ordering ice cream? American and German forces celebrating Christmas together in the barracks? This could only be the curious world of twentieth-century war re-enactors. A relatively recent and rapidly expanding phenomenon, re-enactments of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War now draw more than 8,000 participants a year. Mostly men, these re-enactors celebrate, remember, and re-create the tiniest details of the Battle of the Bulge in the Maryland woods, D-Day on a beach in Virginia, and WWI trench warfare in Pennsylvania. Jenny Thompson draws on seven years of fieldwork, personal interviews, and surveys to look into this growing subculture. She looks at how the reenactors' near obsession with owning authentic military clothing, guns, paraphernalia, and vehicles often explodes into heated debates. War Games sheds light on the ways people actually make use of history in their daily lives and looks intensely into the meaning of war itself and how wars have become the heart of American history.
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