England’S Military Heartland

"In this revealing, important, and timely, study, the authors open a window on to a neglected world, part of Britain dominated by the military at the expense of civil society. It is Army country, a “super garrison” on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, an area historically rich in rare habitats but where soldiers train for armed conflict. It is also where the families of those preparing to fight for their country are often deprived of basic facilities, living in homes that are in an appalling state. The authors provide a clear picture of life in the “khaki economy” and a Ministry of Defence, “dismissive of independent scrutiny as ever”, as they put it. They leave the reader with extremely valuable insights and understanding of the Army’s problems, including its recruitment crisis. Richard Norton-Taylor I love this book. To comprehend the depth of the British Army's grip on the lives of ordinary people in south-west England, these energetically curious authors have spent years observing and listening to school teachers, their young students, town councilors, farmers, women and men married to soldiers, nature conservers, would-be home buyers. That's just the start. Rejecting the falsely comforting binaries between ""civilian"" and ""military"" and between ""peace"" and war,"" England's Military Heartland exposes the remarkable extent to which militarization is now shaping not only the lives of humans, but the character and quality of the land on which they and other creatures live. Cynthia Enloe, author of Twelve Feminist Lessons of War -- ."