Interstate: Express Highway Politics 1939-1989

Praise for Interstate "The tale that Mark Rose relates in great detail is an illuminating one of pressure politics, revealing aspects of the fragmentation of social and political life rarely examined by scholars." --Richard Lowitt, American Studies "The best researched, most readable single document on the formation of U.S. auto-dominant policy. . . ." --Robert C. Stuart, Policy Studies Journal "Rose has done pioneering work in highway history. This is a small book but an important one. We are becoming more acutely aware that in our world technology and politics are inextricably intertwined. Here is an excellent case study."--John B. Rae, ISIS "An extensively researched, brief, and important study that adds to our knowledge of interest group politics and the impact of the motor vehicle in the United States." --Blaine A. Brownell, American Historical Review "An excellent contribution to political and transportation history. . . . an extremely useful account of the various hearings, conferences, and behind-the-scenes maneuverings that finally led to federal absorption of 90 percent of construction costs through the instrumentality of the Highway Trust Fund. . . . an impressive beginning to historical scholarship on a vastly important topic." --Kenneth T. Jackson, Journal of American History "A remarkably thorough, objective survey and analysis of the role of various interest groups in fashioning highway policies in the 1940s and 1950s. . . . a pioneer, definitive examination of highway development and transportation policy-making from the standpoints of various special interest groups." --Michael Robinson, Public Works Historical Society "This volume will fill an important area in many collections that probably have several volumes on transportation development after 1956. Persons interested in political processes, policy formation, and urban history will find this volume a useful and important contribution toward understanding the post-World War II period." --Choice

About the Author :
Raymond A. Mohl is distinguished professor of history at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is the author of South of the South: Jewish Activists and the Civil Rights Movement in Miami, 1945-1960 and co-editor of The Making of Urban America, 3rd edition. Mark H. Rose is professor of history at Florida Atlantic University. He is the author of Cities of Light and Heat: Domesticating Gas and Electricity in Urban America and coauthor of The Best Transportation System in the World: Railroads, Trucks, Airlines and American Public Policy in the Twentieth Century.