History

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ver y sum m er , h i stor y bu f f s the wor l d over f l ock to a quai n t , peacef u l gl en bu r i ed

Two docum en tar y to sm ooth over any per sonal or f i nan ci al r ough pat ches. O ne step down f r om the h i stor i an s, ther e ar e the r e- enactor s. T hese m en and wom en (though they ?r e m ost l y m i dd l e- aged , pot - bel l i ed m en who appear to bel i eve that d r essi ng up as m i dd l e- aged , pot - bel l i ed m en f r om the past i s the best way to del ay, p r even t or r eso l ve a m i d - l i f e cr i si s) set up cam p at the ver y star t of the f est i val , and spend thei r days si t t i ng ou t si de thei r ten t s, wai t i ng, just wai t i ng, f or eager pun ter s to wander up to them , ask them ?what i t i s that they ?r e supposed to be,? and l i sten pat i en t l y as they em bar k on a f r en zi ed exp l anat i on of the com p l ex i t i es of seven teen th - cen tu r y si ege war f ar e. A m or e ef f ect i ve f orm of gr oup ther apy has yet to be d i scover ed . Such i s thei r com m i tm en t to thei r r o l es, however , that by the end of the week , hav i ng f ai l ed to pu t on any cl ean cl othes, l et al one take the p r ecau t i on of obser v i ng basi c san i tat i on , thei r scen t at tai n s a l evel

deep i n the W i l t sh i r e coun t r ysi de, near Sal i sbu r y : Chal ke Val l ey, the si te of Br i tai n?s f or em ost h i stor y f est i val . Ever y June, i t s beau t i f u l l y gr een , em p t y, undu l at i ng h i l l s ar e t r an sf orm ed i n to a ver i tab l e sea of ten t s and peop l e. I n the an x i ous m on ths p r eced i ng the f est i val , h i stor i an s w i th books to p l ug spend m any a sl eep l ess n i gh t tossi ng and tu r n i ng, dar i ng to d r eam that per haps th i s year , th i s year , they ?l l be i nv i ted to speak at the f est i val , and ear n thei r spu r s as m em ber s of Br i tai n?s h i stor i cal el i te, t r an sf orm i ng thei r car eer s f or ever . Few ever r ecei ve a cal l f r om the Chal ke Val l ey or gan i ser s, and the m any passed over f or p r om ot i on si n k , i nev i tab l y, i n to obscu r i t y and ob l i v i on . Bu t f or those f ew, those happy f ew, who m ake the cu t , ther e open s up the p r ospect of a l i f et im e em bedded i n the Br i t i sh h i stor i cal ci r cu i t , w i th speak i ng tou r s acr oss the coun t r y upon the r el ease of ever y new book , and the odd BBC

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