Highway History Bibliography

Recent Publications

The latest additions are in bold

Ballon, Hilary, and Jackson, Kenneth T., Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York, W. W. Norton and Company, 2007. This book, which accompanies exhibitions at the Queens Museum of Art and the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University, examines the works and impact of Robert Moses, one of the greatest builders of roads, bridges, and other public works in history, on New York City. It's the first major examination-in some ways a reexamination-of the works of Robert Moses since Robert Caro's 1974 biography, The Power Broker (see separate entry).

Bilger, Burkhard, "The Long Dig," The New Yorker, September 15, 2008. (Covers the development of tunnels technology, the history of tunnel construction in Switzerland, and how tunnels transformed the Swiss economy.)

Fein, Michael R., Paving the Way: New York Road Building and the American State, 1880-1956, University Press of Kansas, 2008.

Giblin, Kelly A., "The Jersey Barrier: You've Probably Never Heard of It-But it May Well Have Saved Your Life," American Heritage of Invention and Technology, Summer 2006. (Describes the history and design of the barriers. As the Table of Contents puts it, "A lot of engineering goes into those bland-looking concrete wedges you see along the sides of America's highways.")

Jakle, John A., and Sculle, Keith A., Motoring: The Highway Experience in America, University of Georgia Press, 2008. (From the book jacket: "Motoring unmasks the forces that shape the American driving experience-commercial, aesthetic, cultural, mechanical-as it takes a timely look back at our historically unconditional love of motor travel.")

Kroplick, Howard, and Velocci, Al, The Long Island Motor Parkway, Images of America, Arcadia Publishing, 2008.

McDonald, Shannon Sanders, The Parking Garage: Design and Evolution of a Modern Urban Form, Urban Land Institute, 2007.

Rasenberger, Jim, America 1908, Scribner, 2007. (Narrative of a year in which Henry Ford unveiled the Model T, the Wright Brothers demonstrated that flight was here to stay, automobilists competed in the New York to Paris race, the Navy sailed around the world to demonstrate America's new role in world affairs, and President Teddy Roosevelt summoned the Nation's Governors to the White House for a 3-day meeting on conservation - among many other fascinating events.)

Rugh, Susan Sessions, Are We There Yet? The Golden Age of American Family Vacations, University Press of Kansas, 2008. (The rise and fall of the family vacation in the post-World War II era to the early 1970s.)

Taylor, Michael C., Road of Difficulties: Building the Lower Columbia River Highway, Bear Creek Press, 2008. (The story of the almost forgotten road from Portland to the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, the twin of the upper route through the Historic Columbia River Highway.)

Wallis, Michael, and Williamson, Michael S., The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast from Times Square to the Golden Gate, W. W. Norton, 2007. (Wallis, author of one of the best books on U.S. 66, and Williamson turn to the Lincoln Highway for what the book calls "The Great American Road Trip." Chapters on the trip through each Lincoln Highway State.)