Homefront: A Military City and the American Twentieth Century

Catherine A. Lutz

Beacon Press, Nov 18, 2002 - History - 328 pages

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.

?Any reader will find [Lutz?s] conclusions . . . provocative.
?Publishers Weekly

?Rich in storytelling, history, and political commentary, with implications far beyond Fayetteville.? ?Michael Sherry, author of In the Shadow of War

?In no small part, Homefront chronicles Fayetteville through the trials and triumphs of the downtrodden, the underdogs and the disfranchised.? ?Greg Barnes, Fayetteville Observer

?First rate.? ?Louis B. Cei, Richmond Times Dispatch

?Penetrating.? ?Ann Jarmusch, San Diego Union-Tribune

Catherine A. Lutz is professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is the author of Unnatural Emotions and coauthor, with Jane L. Collins, of Reading National Geographic.

What people are saying

Review: Homefront: A Military City and the American Twentieth Century

User Review  - Jen - Goodreads

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

Review: Homefront: A Military City and the American Twentieth Century

User Review  - Jane - Goodreads

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 ...

About the author

Catherine A. Lutz is professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is the author of Unnatural Emotions and coauthor, with Jane L. Collins, of Reading National Geographic. Lutz is winner of the Anthony Leeds Prize (2002) and of the Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing, Honorable Mention (2002).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Homefront: A Military City and the American Twentieth Century
• Author: Catherine A. Lutz
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Beacon Press, 2002
• ISBN: 0807055093, 9780807055090
• Length: 328 pages
• Subjects: History / General; History / Military / United States; History / United States / 20th Century; History / United States / State & Local / General; Social Science / Sociology / General