The black smoke billowing from burning oil wells during the Gulf War of 1990-91 directed media and public attention towards war's devastating environmental impact. Yet even before the first bomb is dropped, preparation for warfare materially and imaginatively reshapes rural landscapes and environments.
This volume is the first to explore the comparative histories and geographies of militarized landscapes. Moving beyond the narrow definition of militarized landscapes as theatres of war, it treats them as simultaneously material and cultural sites that have been partially or fully mobilized to achieve military aims. Ranging from the Korean DMZ to nuclear testing sites in the American West, and from Gettysburg to Salisbury Plain, Militarized Landscapes focuses on these often secretive, hidden, dangerous and invariably controversial sites that occupy huge swathes of national territories.
Preparation for warfare materially reshapes rural landscapes and environments. This is a comparative history and geography of militarized landscapes.
Although the environmental history of war and militarization is a major dimension of all human history, serious study of the subject has begun only recently. The term "militarized landscapes" has become prominent, but its range of meaning has been unclear. This book is the most significant publication on the subject.
