Many of you may be familiar with the British living history publication Skirmish magazine. For those who are not, I would like to recommend it as an interesting alternative to your usual reenactor literature. I recently started getting it and have been impressed with the quality. How I got to this point, however is a bit more complicated.
When I attended the 145th Gettysburg Reenactment this summer, I stopped at the magazine’s tent and, finding the sample mags interesting, bought a subscription. This was, of course, July 4th weekend. I then settled back and awaited my first issue. By the end of September, it had not arrived. My credit card statement showed that the card had paid the magazine on July 10. I sent a couple of emails to the customer service address listed on the magazine’s website, but received no reply. I called the credit card company, but they were of no help. In frustration, I sent an email to every address on the website. To my surprise, I got a response from the magazine’s editor, Rachel Evans, a very pleasant lady, who explained that US subscriptions were handled for them by a North American distributor.
Another month passed. I emailed the editor again and she apologized and replied immediately that she would see that the problem was resolved. Within a couple of days, I got my first copy. I don’t know how all this all played out behind the scenes, but I was impressed by the fact that the magazine’s top executive would communicate with a lowly subscriber directly. I don’t think you would get that with most high-quality publications. My hat is off to Rachel for her obvious concern about customer service.
The magazine itself is slick, well-put together and apparently covers every time period in the hobby. I was impressed at the quality of the impressions shown and the apparent interest in big Timeline events in Britain. As these seem to be growing in popularity over here as well, this may be a subject to take up in the future.
Back to the mag itself, the writing is generally well-written. I have found a small number of technical errors in the narration, but nobody is perfect. Even the ads are interesting, although most are on the other side of the pond which may discourage many over here from ordering from them. Despite the initial glitches, I do recommend the magazine for an overall look at the reenacting hobby in all its various parts. Check it out.
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