Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Most Anticipated Books of 2025!

Summary and Reviews of Fortress America by Elaine Tyler May

Fortress America by Elaine Tyler May

Fortress America

How We Embraced Fear and Abandoned Democracy

by Elaine Tyler May
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • First Published:
  • Dec 12, 2017, 256 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

An award-winning historian untangles the roots of America's culture of fear, and argues that it imperils our democracy.

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.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $50 for 12 months or $18 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

In Fortress America, Elaine Tyler May presents a fascinating but alarming portrait of America's recent history and the effect of events upon its citizens. Beginning with the threats posed by the Cold War, she examines the different fears that have gripped the nation in subsequent decades—fears that are often not substantiated by the facts. However it provides only a one-sided view. While Fortress America is certainly a thought-provoking and informative read, particularly about the 1950s and '60s, May seems less of an objective voice on more recent events...continued

Full Review (735 words)

This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access, become a member today.

(Reviewed by Kate Braithwaite).

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $50 for 12 months or $18 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Beyond the Book



Disenfranchisement and Voter Suppression

Despite the fact that voting in a federal election is a primary and vital constitutional right held by American citizens over 18 years of age, the playing field for voters is not equal from one state to another.

Voting place indicator In Fortress America, Elaine Tyler May argues that disenfranchisement holds individuals back from contributing to their communities. She emphasizes the importance of the right to vote as an essential aspect of American citizenship. By the turn of the twenty-first century, she reports, one in forty adults was unable to vote as a result of a criminal conviction and the rights of criminals to regain their right to vote after release varies from state to state, even for national elections.

Research from the Scholars Strategy ...

This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $50 for 12 months or $18 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked Fortress America, try these:

We have 11 read-alikes for Fortress America, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $50 for 12 months or $18 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
The Memory Library
by Kate Storey
Journey through the pages of this heartwarming novel, where hope, friendship and second chances are written in the margins.
Book Jacket
Let's Call Her Barbie
by Renée Rosen
She was only eleven-and-a-half inches tall, but she would change the world. Barbie is born in this bold new novel by USA Today bestselling author Renée Rosen.
Book Jacket
Babylonia
by Costanza Casati
From the author of the bestselling Clytemnestra comes another intoxicating excursion into ancient history. When kings fall, queens rise.
Book Club Giveaway!
Win Help Wanted

Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman

From the best-selling author of The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. comes a funny, eye-opening tale of work in contemporary America.

Enter

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Going Home
    by Tom Lamont

    Going Home is a sparkling, funny, bighearted story of family and what happens when three men take charge of a toddler following an unexpected loss.

  • Book Jacket

    The Secret History of the Rape Kit
    by Pagan Kennedy

    The story of the woman who kicked off a feminist revolution in forensics, and then vanished into obscurity.

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

Y C L a H T W but Y C M H D

and be entered to win..