Review of The Black Hats of Anoka
Posted: 14 May 2025, 11:28
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Black Hats of Anoka" by Michael E. McClurken.]
The Black Hats of Anoka is the story of two groups of reenactors from 2024, one from the North and one from the South, who travel to Gettysburg to reenact the great battles of the Civil War. Both groups get more than they bargained for when they walk through a mysterious fog and end up in the past. What was supposed to be a friendly skirmish to honor those who fought in the Civil War becomes a nightmare for the reenactors as they find themselves in 1863 trying to survive the chaos and violence of the actual Civil War.
As a huge fan of historical fiction and science fiction, this book seemed like it would be the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, I ended the book disappointed as it did not truly meet either of those genres. The history in the book is overwhelming. It is apparent that the author loves the subject of the Civil War and Gettysburg specifically, but it was like I was learning about the battles at Gettysburg through a firehose running at full blast. The author put so much time and care into the historical aspect of the book that the characters and plot seemed like an afterthought. The science fiction aspect was also generally overshadowed by the historical aspect of the story. Certain aspects of time travel were addressed, but only at the surface level and in an unrealistic manner.
The characters were also lacking any depth or creativity. I will give the author credit for including a woman among the groups of reenactors, and they made a point of including the importance of women as soldiers in the Civil War, but the female character was a caricature made up of several strong female tropes. Sadly, the male characters do not fare much better and are often used as mouthpieces to explain historical facts or figures instead of having any type of personality of their own. As a reader, I was not invested in any of the characters, which meant I was not very interested in their stories.
There were some positive aspects of the book, one of which I mentioned earlier is the history found throughout the book. The author knows what they are talking about and is passionate about the subject. As I was reading the book, I continuously asked myself, “Why didn’t the author simply write a nonfiction book on the subject?” as that is clearly where their interest lay. It is also important to note that this is a book about war, and there are several disturbing, violent incidents throughout the story. The author stays true to representing many of the horrors that soldiers encountered while fighting during the Civil War.
Overall, I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. The editing was, for the most part, well done. The historical aspects of the book were interesting and well-researched, and you could feel the author’s passion for the subject. Sadly, however, the characters and fictional aspects of the story were lacking that spark that allows you to get lost in a good book.
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The Black Hats of Anoka
View: on Bookshelves
The Black Hats of Anoka is the story of two groups of reenactors from 2024, one from the North and one from the South, who travel to Gettysburg to reenact the great battles of the Civil War. Both groups get more than they bargained for when they walk through a mysterious fog and end up in the past. What was supposed to be a friendly skirmish to honor those who fought in the Civil War becomes a nightmare for the reenactors as they find themselves in 1863 trying to survive the chaos and violence of the actual Civil War.
As a huge fan of historical fiction and science fiction, this book seemed like it would be the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, I ended the book disappointed as it did not truly meet either of those genres. The history in the book is overwhelming. It is apparent that the author loves the subject of the Civil War and Gettysburg specifically, but it was like I was learning about the battles at Gettysburg through a firehose running at full blast. The author put so much time and care into the historical aspect of the book that the characters and plot seemed like an afterthought. The science fiction aspect was also generally overshadowed by the historical aspect of the story. Certain aspects of time travel were addressed, but only at the surface level and in an unrealistic manner.
The characters were also lacking any depth or creativity. I will give the author credit for including a woman among the groups of reenactors, and they made a point of including the importance of women as soldiers in the Civil War, but the female character was a caricature made up of several strong female tropes. Sadly, the male characters do not fare much better and are often used as mouthpieces to explain historical facts or figures instead of having any type of personality of their own. As a reader, I was not invested in any of the characters, which meant I was not very interested in their stories.
There were some positive aspects of the book, one of which I mentioned earlier is the history found throughout the book. The author knows what they are talking about and is passionate about the subject. As I was reading the book, I continuously asked myself, “Why didn’t the author simply write a nonfiction book on the subject?” as that is clearly where their interest lay. It is also important to note that this is a book about war, and there are several disturbing, violent incidents throughout the story. The author stays true to representing many of the horrors that soldiers encountered while fighting during the Civil War.
Overall, I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. The editing was, for the most part, well done. The historical aspects of the book were interesting and well-researched, and you could feel the author’s passion for the subject. Sadly, however, the characters and fictional aspects of the story were lacking that spark that allows you to get lost in a good book.
******
The Black Hats of Anoka
View: on Bookshelves