Overview

What is it like to live next door to a British Army base? England's military heartland provides an eye-opening account of the sprawling military presence on Salisbury Plain, drawing on a wide range of voices from both sides of the divide. Targeted for expansion under government plans to reorganise the UK's global defence estate, the Salisbury 'super garrison' offers a unique opportunity to explore the impact of the military footprint in a particular place. But this is no ordinary environment: as well as being the world-famous site of Stonehenge, the grasslands of Salisbury Plain are home to rare plants and wildlife. How does the army take responsibility for conserving this unique landscape as it trains young men and women to use lethal weapons? Are its claims that its presence is a positive for the environment anything more than propaganda? This book investigates these questions against the backdrop of a historic landscape inscribed with the legacy of perpetual war.

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9781526174833

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Reviews

"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 -- ."

Author Information

Vron Ware is a writer and photographer and a visiting professor at LSE. Her books include Return of a Native: Learning from the Land (Repeater 2022) and Military Migrants: Fighting for YOUR Country (2012). Antonia Lucia Dawes is a lecturer at King's College London and author of Race Talk: Languages of Racism and Resistance in Neapolitan Street Markets (2020). Mitra Pariyar is a former academic researcher at Oxford and Kingston universities. He is currently a Dalit rights activist based in Kathmandu and a columnist for The Kathmandu Post. Alice Cree is an Academic Track Fellow (NUAcT) at Newcastle University. She is Associate Editor of Critical Military Studies and editor of Creative Methods in Military Studies (2023).

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