Thomas, L: Training for Catastrophe Fictions of National Security After 9/11

"Training for Catastrophe reveals how science fictional narratives habitually assume that, no matter what happens, the further expansion of the security state in the name of 'preparedness' and safety is the first, last, and only possible response to crisis. Lindsay Thomas calls on us to think outside the fantasies of total surveillance and maximum control that dominate contemporary visions of the future-and the apocalypse will never be the same."-Gerry Canavan, president, Science Fiction Research Association

"In Training for Catastrophe, Lindsay Thomas chronicles how the national security state uses fiction to shape public perception about risk, security, preparedness, and the future and with what consequences. This timely and important work shows how preparedness documents at once produce a false sense of security and reproduce the inequities of structural racism. It is a must read for the contemporary moment."-Priscilla Wald, author of Contagious: Cultures, Carriers, and the Outbreak Narrative

"This book would benefit any cross-disciplinary analysis within the humanities, as it skillfully interweaves political science and media, cultural, and literary studies."-Critical Studies on Terrorism

"Thomas's writing is clear, and she deftly weaves together scholarship from the fields of literary and security studies."-Modern Fiction Studies