San Antonio College Library

"While the ancient Romans were not the first society to construct a system of great roads, they did introduce important technical advancements and develop a highly organized and pervasive network that joined their territories in a gigantic web. Spanning over fifty thousand miles and three continents, the network was a defensive matrix as well as a means to integrate the provinces into their empire. Without it, the empire would never have grown so...

Imagine a world without automobiles, traffic lights, and interstate highways. Or the words commuter and parking. For a nation that prides itself on the freedom of movement and the long weekend, this seems nearly impossible. In Down the Asphalt Path, Clay McShane examines the uniquely American relation between automobility and urbanization. Writing at the cutting edge of urban and technological history, McShane focuses on how new transportation systems...

"The Civil War thrust millions of men and women--rich and poor, soldiers and civilians, enslaved and free--onto the roads of the South. During four years of war, Southerners lived on the move. In the hands of Yael A. Sternhell, movement becomes a radically new means to perceive the full trajectory of the Confederacy's rise, struggle, and ultimate defeat."--Jacket.