Car Country (eBook)

An Environmental History

Christopher W. Wells (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2013
464 Seiten
University of Washington Press (Verlag)
978-0-295-80447-7 (ISBN)

Infos

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 Countrya nation dominated by landscapes that are difficult, inconvenient, and often 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 tour of the evolving American landscape, charting the ways that transportation policies and land-use practices have combined to reshape nearly every element of the built environment around the easy movement of automobiles. 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.Watch the book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48LTKOxxrXQ

Autor

lt;P>Christopher W. Wells is associate professor of environmental history at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Inhalt

Foreword by William Cronon Acknowledgments Prologue: A Car of One�s Own

Part One | Before the Automobile, 1880-19051. Roads and Reformers

Part Two | Dawn of the Motor Age, 1895-19192. Automotive Pioneers 3. Building for Traffic Photo Gallery One

Part Three | Creating Car Country, 1919-19414. Motor-Age Geography 5. Fueling the Boom 6. The Paths Out of Town Photo Gallery Two

Part Four | New Patterns, New Standards, New Landscapes, 1940-19607. Suburban Nation

Epilogue | Reaching for the Car Keys Notes Selected Bibliography Index

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.5.2013
• Reihe/Serie: Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books
• Reihe/Serie: Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books
• Vorwort: William Cronon
• Verlagsort: Seattle
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 150 x 150 mm
• Themenwelt: Natur / Technik ► Fahrzeuge / Flugzeuge / Schiffe ► Auto / Motorrad
• Themenwelt: Natur / Technik ► Fahrzeuge / Flugzeuge / Schiffe ► Nutzfahrzeuge
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918)
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Ökologie / Naturschutz
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Geografie / Kartografie
• ISBN-10: 0-295-80447-5 / 0295804475
• ISBN-13: 978-0-295-80447-7 / 9780295804477