The Automobile: A Chronology of Its Antecedents, Development, and Impact [Hardcover]

Clay McShane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0313303088 | ISBN-13: 978-0313303081

This comprehensive chronology of the automobile covers its engineering as well as the social, cultural, and political impact of the car from the invention of the wheel to the O.J. Simpson car chase. It examines the auto industry, the road and roadside, the car in popular culture, gasoline/fuel history, the spatial transformation of cities, air pollution, critics of car culture, traffic accidents, the globalization of car culture, and much more. This is a reference guide for students and scholars of transportation history as well as anyone who has ever asked "When did Japan export the first car to the U.S.?" or "When and how was smog discovered?" or "What make of car did Chuck Berry drive?"

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Chronologies can be very useful reference sources, showing the progression of events in relation to time. This chronology on the automobile provides a listing of events related to the automobile from c.8000 B.C.E. (the domestication of animals) to 1994, when Volvo introduced the side impact air bag. Between these two dates are listed all the expected automobile events covering inventions, manufacturing, and production as well as many events related to other vehicles, such as bicycles, trains, buses, military vehicles, and airplanes. Also included are events that have influenced or been influenced by the automobile, such as the appearance of the first U.S. golf course in 1889; the construction of the earliest example of a theriomorphic building (animal-shaped) in 1882, which later influenced the design of American roadside strips; the opening of the first shopping center mall in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1949; and the peak year for drive-in movie theaters (1958). Even things that are only marginal to automotive history, such as "Kenneth Grahame's novel, The Wind in the Willows, parodies the car culture for children" (1908), help put the automobile in a larger social and cultural context.

The book is divided into seven chapters, from "Prelude to 1885" to "Revival: 1981^-1994." Entries, which are arranged year by year, are concise but informative. One appendix contains 14 tables that provide such information as Ford and Cadillac prices for the years 1900^-1990; U.S. gasoline prices for the years 1925^-88; and persons per car in the U.S. for the years 1925^-90. A second appendix is a directory of North American car museums. The index provides name and subject access.

All in all, this is a useful book that will provide some quick answers to questions about automobiles at the reference desk in high-school, public, and academic libraries. It is also an interesting book to browse. The only failings are the lack of a general bibliography and citations to source material where readers could find more detailed information.

Review

“There is so much interesting information in this small volume that it is a pleasure to just thumb through....for the increasing number of faculty teaching automobile history courses, this will be an interesting and valuable tool.”–Choice

“...this is a useful book that will provide some quick answers to questions about automobilies at the reference desk in high-school, public, and academic libraries. It is also an interesting book to browse.”–Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin

“This book has answers to questions you didn't know you had.”–The Flying Lady

“Clay McShane's book of automotive milestones is both a delight to peruse and a fine source of scholarly information. His study of the car culture that permeates our lives manages to record not only the historic highlights but the neglected events that reflect the wide ranging impact of the automobile on American society. I found his insights and perceptions indispensible to my own research and consider their publication a major contribution to American technological, social, and political and architectural history.”–Jane Holtz Kay Author Asphalt Nation Architecture/planning critic of The Nation

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (November 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313303088
• ISBN-13: 978-0313303081
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,782,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BIBLE ON AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY, February 1, 2001

By 

Jarrett Harris "jharris1" (IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Automobile: A Chronology of Its Antecedents, Development, and Impact (Hardcover)

I AM A THIRD YEAR M.E.T. ( MANUFACTURING ENGINERRING TECHNOLOGY) STUDENT AT NIU(NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY). LAST SEMSTER I WAS ENROLLED IN A CLASS KNOWN AS TECHNOLOGY-294 IT WAS A CLASS ABOUT HOW TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED AND INFULENCED OUR SOCIETY. AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER INSTEAD OF A FINAL EXAM WE WERE REQUIRED TO WRITE PAPERS AND GIVE PRESENTATIONS. I CHOSE TO DO MINE ON THE HISTORY OF THE AUTOMOBILE. I LOOKED AT MANY BOOKS, AT AMAZON AND MY CAMPUS LIBRARY, THAT WOULD GIVE ME THE TYPE OF INFORMATION I WAS LOOKING FOR."THE AUTOMOBILE" BY CLAY McSHANE WAS A GOD-SEND! IT HAD EVERY SINGLE STATISTIC, HISTORICAL HAPPENING, AND PIECE OF INFORMATION EVEN REMOETLY RELATED TO THE HISTORY OF THE AUTOMOBILE. EVER WONDER WHAT AUTO MAKER MISSED THE CHANCE TO HIRE ENZO FERRARI? OR MAYBE YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT AUTO MAKER IS BELEIVED TO HAVE STARTED THE HORSEPOWER REVOLUTION WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF THE FIRST PUSHROD ENGINE. THIS BOOK HAS IT ALL! I ORIGINALLY THOUGHT THE BOOK WAS A BIT EXPENSIVE BUT ONCE I READ ALL OF THE FACTS AND FIGURES, IT'S PRICE WAS CLEARLY JUSTIFIED. OVERALL THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK!