Books About Roads: Suggested Reading

Amtmann

If you come across any interesting books about roads and railways, post bibliographic details here.

Some road books:

Thomas Zeller, Driving Germany: The Landscape of the German Autobahn, 1930-1970 (Berghan Books, 2007).

Joe Moran, On Roads: A Hidden History (Profile Books, 2009).

David Broderick, The First Toll-Roads: Ireland's Turnpike Roads, 1729-1858 (Collins, 2002).

marmurr1916

Cotton Seiler, Republic of Drivers: a cultural history of automobility in America (University of Chicago Press, 2008).

Very academic (and full of the jargon of cultural history) but still contains some fascinating information about the history of driving and 'automobility' (anything to do with cars and roads) in the US, including a chapter about the driving experiences of African-Americans.

Segregation was a feature of US life until the late 1960s/early 1970s.

Many businesses (motels, restaurants, gas stations etc) either didn't allow African-Americans to use their facilities or did so with restrictions.

Two guidebooks aimed at African-American tourists and road-travellers were published in the earlier part of the 20th century. Travelguide (Vacation and Recreation without Humiliation) and The Negro Motorist Green Book.

You can read parts of the book on Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=efmyUImK1A8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false