“‘Who owns the West?’ This superbly researched, fascinating study of historically based fandom explores a century of German fans participating in ‘cowboys and Indians’ festivals and American women channeling pioneer life inspired by the Little House on the Prairie series. Reagin expertly charts how these fans navigate the problematic aspects of the imagined worlds they celebrate.”—Kathy Fuller-Seeley, University of Texas at Austin
“This book is a joy to read and a challenge to the settled certainties of cultural history. Impeccably researched, rigorously argued, and profoundly empathetic, it shows historical reenactors as the subjects and agents of change from the rise of fascism in the 1930s through contemporary debates over indigeneity, historical memory, and historical fact.”—Anne Rubenstein, York University
“. . . an interesting and accessible book based on meticulous research. . . . [Re-living the American Frontier] is a fascinating book and the first to approach German hobbyism from the fan theory angle as well as the first to examine the Little House movement. Her comparison between cowboy-and-Indian clubs and Wilder book enthusiasts highlights a little-studied aspect of the ways people engage with and experience the Western past.”—Kansas History