Book ID: CBB001320937

Car Country: An Environmental History (2012)

unapi

Wells, Christopher W. (Author)


University of Washington Press


Publication Date: 2012
Physical Details: xxxiv + 427 pp.; ill.; maps; bibl.; index
Language: English

For most people in the United States, going almost anywhere begins with reaching for the car keys. This is true, Christopher Wells argues, because the United States is Car Country-a nation dominated by landscapes that are difficult, inconvenient, and often even unsafe to navigate by those who are not sitting behind the wheel of a car. The prevalence of car-dependent landscapes seems perfectly natural to us today, but it is, in fact, a relatively new historical development. In Car Country, Wells rejects the idea that the nation's automotive status quo can be explained as a simple byproduct of an ardent love affair with the automobile. Instead, he takes readers on a lively tour of the evolving American landscape, charting the ways that new transportation policies and land-use practices have combined to reshape nearly every element of the built environment around the easy movement of automobiles. From the dawn of the motor age to the establishment of the Interstate Highway System and the rise of the suburbs, Wells untangles the complicated relationships between automobiles and the environment, allowing readers to see the everyday world in a completely new way. The result is a history that is essential for understanding American transportation and land-use issues today.

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Reviewed By

Review Fein, Michael R. (2014) Review of "Car Country: An Environmental History". American Historical Review (p. 212). unapi

Review Rubenstein, James M. (2014) Review of "Car Country: An Environmental History". Journal of American History (p. 1268). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001320937/

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Authors & Contributors
Seiler, Cotten
Annavarapu, Sneha
Lutz, Raechel
Tal Alon-Mozes
Efrat Hildesheim
Wachs, Martin
Concepts
Automobiles
Technology and culture
Automobile industry
Technology
Historiography
Roads and highways
Time Periods
20th century
20th century, early
21st century
19th century
Places
United States
Palisades Park
Bangalore, India
Russia
New Zealand
Soviet Union
Institutions
Ford Motor Company
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