Homefront: A Military City and the American Twentieth Century

by Catherine A. Lutz

A look at Fayetteville, North Carolina, home to Fort Bragg, that poses the question,'Are we all military dependents?'

Fayetteville has earned the nicknames of Fatalville and Fayettenam. Unusual and not-sounusual features of the town include gross income inequalities, an extraordinarily high incidence of venereal disease, miles and miles of strip malls, and a history of racial violence. Through interviews with residents and historical research, Catherine Lutz immerses herself in the life of the town to discover how it has supported the military for over a century. From secret training operations that use civilians as mock enemies and allies to the satellite economy of the town, Lutz's history of Fayetteville reveals the burdens that military preparedness creates for all of us.

Genres: History, Anthropology, Read For School, Ethnography

326 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific book. An anthropologist takes a look at Feyetteville, the community astride Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home of the 82nd Airborne Division. She provides a history of the city, and a critical look at the relationship between the city and military. This book changed my perspective on how I view civil-military relationships, and how I view programs such as the G. I. Bill and other benefits service members receive.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my only complaints is one of the book's best strong suits, it ends right before 9/11. It's so interesting to be reading this (crushing? Depressing? Aggravating?) study and you just know what's right around the corner.

[Maxx Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fayetteville could have been a cool city, but they love the military too much, and it shows

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is some of the best ethnographic research around. It is the ethnography of a town - a military town in the US. As such it is very difficult to conceptualize such a huge, complex task, but Lutz, who is one of the most interesting anthropologists working today manages it excellently.
It is also a wonderful read, well written, even for the non-anthropologist. And she never forgets, as Gill (School of the Americas) does, that people believe in what they do and do their best in the circumstances they find themselves in.

[Jamie]

It’s doing that thing of assuming a small town is automatically backwards and provincial and in need of Progress, and I’m having a hard time right now getting past that to the good stuff. Will try again later.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes dry and tedious, and a little bit of a stretch for anyone who actually did grow up being a dependent in a military town, but still a decent read and informative.

[Jennifer J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging and moving history of American militarism on home soil. As moving as it is disturbing.