Book Review: Living History

Living History: Effective Costumed Interpretation and Enactment at Museums and Historic Sites by David B. Allison.

This is an interesting little overview of past and current interpretation methods.  It's not a long book:  98 pages divided into seven chapters, plus introduction, bibliography and a little poetry.  The tone is conversational; the content intermixes personal anecdotes, descriptions of previous interpretive techniques, research study results, and interviews with the staff of living history sites.  All in all, it's an approachable look at how living history interpretation has developed and changed through the 20th century, and what current best practices look like.

I mostly value this book for its retrospective of living history as museum practice: what seems to work with modern audiences and what does not. While reading, I found the shift between research and story a little jarring at times, but that's possibly because I was expected a denser, or more theoretical work (my fault). I did end up enjoying the peeks at how other sites operate their interpretive programs, though there were other partss I'm not sure I care for it. For instance, the section summarizing living history in popular media, ie South Park and The Simpsons, was longer than I found interesting or useful.

There wasn't a lot of 'how to' included, but there was a certain amount of 'this works well, that less so.'  I very much appreciated seeing someone else agree with me that 'feigning ignorance of the present' and/or 'mocking the visitors for their modern clothing and accouterments' is not a productive way to start conversations.  Personally, I find that approach annoying, and a distraction from the actual topic of conversation: Allison puts it more pedagogical terms, that making the audience feel stupid puts them in a defensive mindset which is not conducive to learning.

This isn't a book that will teach you how to interpret effectively, but it's a quick read that's likely to help you refine your methods and/or your site's approach to the interpretation.

Stars: 3.5

Accuracy: Encourages it.

Overall Impression: An interesting perspective on the development and direction of living history interpretation, but neither the most in-depth theoretical assessment nor a how-to guide. Approachable language makes it a good choice for a layperson interested in the hows and whys of living history and museum "enacting".  If it convinces even one person to stop using 'ignorance of the present' as their interpretive hook, it will be a job well done.