Publisher Description
An award-winning historian argues that America’s obsession with security imperils our democracy in this “compelling” portrait of cultural anxiety (Mary L. Dudziak, author of War Time).
For the last sixty years, fear has seeped into every area of American life: Americans own more guns than citizens of any other country, sequester themselves in gated communities, and retreat from public spaces. And yet, crime rates have plummeted, making life in America safer than ever. Why, then, are Americans so afraid-and where does this fear lead to?
In this remarkable work of social history, Elaine Tyler May demonstrates how our obsession with security has made citizens fear each other and distrust the government, making America less safe and less democratic. Fortress America charts the rise of a muscular national culture, undercutting the common good. Instead of a thriving democracy of engaged citizens, we have become a paranoid, bunkered, militarized, and divided vigilante nation.
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Few historians have probed the hidden undercurrents of the Cold War as perceptively and brilliantly as Elaine Tyler May. In Homeward Bound, she explained how containment abroad seeped into America’s homes, and now, in her equally penetrating Fortress America, she reveals the fears and insecurities in those homes that emerged to elect our 45th President. A major contribution and a must-read to understand the origins of the Age of Trump.
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MartinJ. Sherwin, University Professor at George Mason University, Pulitzer Prize(with co-author Kai Bird) winner for American PrometheusÂ
