Book Review: Hoosier Hysterical

History & Humor with Mark R. Hunter

Did you know that Indiana has its very own January 6, 2021 insurrection? Except it happened on May 20th, 1863.

The Republicans of Indiana got tired of dealing with the Democrats of Indiana. So, the Republicans just started making laws without any legislative process, which was unconstitutional. The Democrats amassed hundreds of loyal supporters to take over the legislature, which was also unconstitutional. The Republican governor sent in 12 battle-hardened Union troops to deal with the protest. Somehow these 12 soldiers convinced the Democrats to go home. No shots were fired. No one died. Eventually, the Democrats were allowed back in the building to squabble with the Republicans. Can we learn something from this history?

Novelist, satirist, moustache wearer, and proud resident of Indiana, Mark R. Hunter takes us on a humorous journey of Indiana. Mark’s mission is to make history more memorable with humor — and now I have May 20, 1863 permanently wired into my brain.

Here are a couple of examples of Mark’s work:

You’d think [the government of Indiana] would have learned their lesson from the nationwide Panic of 1819, which led to the country’s very first depression. In their defence, only two Indiana banks got bankrupted by that economic downturn. On the other hand, at the time there were only two Indiana banks. Thank goodness an economic crash would never happen again.