Ways of the World: A History of the World's Roads and of the Vehicles That Used Them

Abstract

This book has four objectives: to provide a comprehensive history of roads and bridges and the vehicles that have used them; to properly document that history; to explore the development of roads as part of a larger societal system; and to provide a good reference list and literature survey of the world's English-language literature on the history of roads. To achieve these objectives the author has, in his own words, written at a number of levels, using a structure that sequentially examines the development of pathways; looks at the associated rise of wheeled vehicles and draft animals; studies the consequential development of surfaced roads; sidesteps to examine the motives for road building; plots the rise of self-powered vehicles and explores their influence and application; examines the surfaces that arose to meet their needs; describes the somewhat separate history of bridges; and, finally, reviews developments in this century and looks fleetingly at the future. The book includes a detailed chronology of events and a comprehensive index.