What inspired you to write this book?
During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the armed forces became increasingly visible – partly due to public alarm at the number of fatalities but also because of interventions by government, media and military leaders. Soldiers were elevated as heroes, as exceptional members of society who were owed special privileges.
Our first aim was to investigate what this might mean on the ground. Wiltshire seemed the ideal location to do this. We wanted to know what it meant for this remote rural landscape to be designated a ‘super garrison’, and how this would impact on local communities as well as the land itself.
Each of us brings their individual expertise to this collective project. Vron Ware grew up in the shadow of the army base on Salisbury Plain in the 1960s and had long been interested in its colonial origins. Antonia Dawes’ previous work focused on racism and antiracism in Naples, Italy, a city that has hosted a significant NATO presence since WW2. From here she became interested in uncovering more about the lurking presence of military bases and connecting everyday life there to lethal events elsewhere. Mitra Pariyar, an expert on caste discrimination in Nepal, spent a year living near Tidworth garrison. Alice Cree specialises in innovative ways of researching gendered military experiences, particularly with women veterans and military partners.
What do you hope readers take away from your book?
The military are a public institution and depend on taxpayers. The public has a right to understand the costs and consequences of maintaining a labour force that is permanently on standby for warfighting, especially one that works closely with major arms companies and contributes heavily to global carbon emissions.
What it means to be married to someone in the army, to be a child of a soldier, or simply to live in an area dominated by the military’s presence – these are things we need to know if we are to understand how the institution works, and to be able to hold it up to scrutiny.
What’s the key message of your book?
We end the book by summing up the two fundamental points: first, that every phase of war blurs the boundary between civilian and military, producing new categories of wounded, displaced and traumatised people as a result.
And second, that the status and conditions of military labour – from recruitment to veteranhood – should be a matter of concern to all citizens whose taxes, votes, values, opinions and feelings of security or danger ought to determine what can or cannot be addressed by the use of lethal violence, sanctioned and organised by the state.
How does your book speak to ongoing debates or issues facing contemporary society?
In addition to the accelerating impact of climate change, the world is currently undergoing a terrifying arms race in which powerful arms companies are competing to produce new generations of killing technology, including AI and nuclear weapons. Many people feel powerless to stop their governments spending more and more on defence and being complicit in ongoing war crimes.
By drawing attention to the military boot print on the unique ecology of Salisbury Plain, we hope that our book will inspire readers to challenge the ways in which the drive to war is fostered at home.
England’s military heartland: Preparing for war on Salisbury Plain by Vron Ware, Antonia Lucia Dawes, Mitra Pariyar and Alice Cree
Publishing January 2025
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.