Military tourism has exploded. Last year, more than 30 million Americans bought a ticket to visit a military destination setting visitation records from New York to California. But what destinations, and where did they go? The truth is that there are uncounted military sites you can see and visit, some on --and some off -- the beaten path. There are secret missile sites, life sized dioramas, outdoor tank, ship, and bomber parks, and incredible exhibits with stories to tell that will astound you. All you’ll need is this book and a driver’s license to find and visit them, and perhaps a map for the most hidden of them all. Did you know that the Coast Guard mounted a rescue effort on 9.11 and evacuated more than 100,000 New Yorkers from Manhattan by boat? Go to the little-known Naval Air Station Wildwood Museum in Cape May, New Jersey to discover that story. How about the remnants of the helicopter from Blackhawk Down or the lifeboat from Captain Phillips – or even the Airbus pulled from the Hudson River that was piloted by Sully Sullenberger? We’ll tell you where to go to find all of these objects -- and many, many more. Perhaps intrigue is more your suit. You can’t go into Area 51 but the government now acknowledges that it exists so we can suggest a drive near the perimeter that lets your imagination go wild. And while you’re in Nevada we’ll tell you how to join an almost-secret caravan of cars that goes out to the exact spot where atomic bombs were once detonated, that and all the info you need to see a fantastic museum in Las Vegas that features all of our formerly secret nuclear air-to-air missiles, nuclear howitzers, nuclear artillery shells and nuclear who-knows-what. And so it goes. Fire the gun on a Sherman tank, walk the decks of an aircraft carrier, go inside a hush-hush submarine, sit in a F-4 Phantom, fly in a Huey, see the trenches of World War I, walk the beaches of D-Day, see a CIA airbase – all of it here in America, all waiting for you to explore.

American military bases encircle the globe; from Italy to the Indian Ocean, from Japan to Honduras. The far-reaching story of the perils of the U. S. military bases and what these bases say about America today.

According to the Department of Defense's 2004 Base Structure Report, the United States officially maintains 860 overseas military installations and another 115 on noncontinental U.S. territories. Over the last fifteen years the Department of Defense has been moving from a few large-footprint bases to smaller and much more numerous bases across the globe. This so-called lily-pad strategy, designed to allow high-speed reactions to military emergencies anywhere in the world, has provoked significant debate in military circles and sometimes-fierce contention within the polity of the host countries. In Base Politics, Alexander Cooley examines how domestic politics in different host countries, especially in periods of democratic transition, affect the status of U.S. bases and the degree to which the U.S. military has become a part of their local and national landscapes. Drawing on exhaustive field research in different host nations across East Asia and Southern Europe, as well as the new postcommunist base hosts in the Black Sea and Central Asia, Cooley offers an original and provocative account of how and why politicians in host countries contest or accept the presence of the U.S. military on their territory. Overseas bases, Cooley shows, are not merely installations that serve a military purpose. For host governments and citizens, U.S. bases are also concrete institutions and embodiments of U.S. power, identity, and diplomacy. Analyzing the degree to which overseas bases become enmeshed in local political agendas and interests, Base Politics will be required reading for anyone interested in understanding the extent—and limits—of America's overseas military influence.

Across the country, museums and historic sites welcome visitors into a world long gone but fundamental to America today. Military history in particular is etched into our country’s culture and the public’s imagination. The trouble, though, for museums and historical sites lies in continuing to make it both accessible and relevant to today’s audiences. Through Interpreting American Military History at Museums and Historic Sites, Marc K. Blackburn tackles the difficult task of helping those institutions charged with the care of sites, collections and stories that relate to our past relatable while still maintaining the dignity and reverence of their rich history. Looking at the various components of American military history such as battles and famous figures, Blackburn provides alternatives to the traditional museum experience. The 21st century is a culmination of the past and it is more important than ever to remember and learn from the triumphs and failures, and this guide provides and explains those strategies for making our stories and collections relevant to modern audiences. This books acts as a primer for those unfamiliar with academic trends of the last forty years. Historiography of American military history, like that of other sub-fields, shifts as new information surfaces or as perspectives change. Blackburn modernizes this area through new interpretative methods, as well as through case studies of museums and historic sites that have created programs, interpretive media, outreach strategies, and mission goals updated to meet the needs of today’s patrons. Armed with these strategies, historic institutions will have the foundation to provide compelling, relevant, and engaging experiences for the 21st century audience.

This "compellingly hard-hitting" bestseller from a Pulitzer Prize finalist gives readers the complete untold story of the top-secret military base for the first time (New York Times). It is the most famous military installation in the world. And it doesn't exist. Located a mere seventy-five miles outside of Las Vegas in Nevada's desert, the base has never been acknowledged by the U.S. government — but Area 51 has captivated imaginations for decades. Myths and hypotheses about Area 51 have long abounded, thanks to the intense secrecy enveloping it. Some claim it is home to aliens, underground tunnel systems, and nuclear facilities. Others believe that the lunar landing itself was filmed there. The prevalence of these rumors stems from the fact that no credible insider has ever divulged the truth about his time inside the base. Until now. Annie Jacobsen had exclusive access to nineteen men who served the base proudly and secretly for decades and are now aged 75-92, and unprecedented access to fifty-five additional military and intelligence personnel, scientists, pilots, and engineers linked to the secret base, thirty-two of whom lived and worked there for extended periods. In Area 51, Jacobsen shows us what has really gone on in the Nevada desert, from testing nuclear weapons to building super-secret, supersonic jets to pursuing the War on Terror. This is the first book based on interviews with eye witnesses to Area 51 history, which makes it the seminal work on the subject. Filled with formerly classified information that has never been accurately decoded for the public, Area 51 weaves the mysterious activities of the top-secret base into a gripping narrative, showing that facts are often more fantastic than fiction, especially when the distinction is almost impossible to make.

Essays explore the social impact of Americas global network of military bases by examining interactions between U.S. soldiers and members of host communities in South Korea, Japan/Okinawa, and West Germany.

This landmark book tells a powerful story, continent by continent, of the development of U.S. security strategy over the past century into a global system of military bases and facilities for military intervention that has corrupted democratic values, economic and social well-being, and environmental sustainability in every country that the system touches, including the United States itself.--Elise Boulding