America on Wheels: The First 100 Years

I still want the DVD of this exceptional show made and released!! I have been trying to acquire it for years!!!!! The book is complemented most fully by the show. One can only hope......

"America on Wheels: The First 100 Years: 1896-1996" is my favorite automobile book, and also is the companion to the PBS special. Skillfully written by Frank Coffey and Joseph Layden, it has the most beautiful, full color photographs in a single work that I have seen in the last 12 months of my research. From the early days of the automobile in the 1890's and prior to 1996 and beyond, it adeptly covers automotive development decade-by-decade.The wonderful hardcover version is large, 8-1/2" x 11", covering 11 chapters over three parts. Part I, "Driving Force" solidly reveals the growth of the automobile from the horseless carriage up through Chapter 4, "Labor Pains," which narrates the beginning and early history of automobile labor unions. At first, both sides were bitterly opposed. Fighting occurred. Bloodied and bruised, the workers and the unions gradually united and worked out their differences--for the time being. After all, World War II was approaching. "Social Mobility," Part II, starts at Chapter 5, "The War Machine" and describes how automobile production all but ceased after Pearl Harbor. Automobile manufacturing became manufacturing for vehicles of war. Chapter 6, "The Post War Room" and Chapter 7, "The Open Road" take you through this difficult and trying period so well with the photographs that you can almost smell the factory smoke and rubber tires, and hear the wrenches clinking. Part III, "Car Wars" details the post-war priorities of Detroit: retool the factories, design new automobile bodies--with chrome and fins--and develop new engines and conveniences to welcome the new age of freedom.Without a doubt, this is the best and most complete source of information about automotive development in America. It is a virtual pool of American Culture, brimming with helpful anecdotes and interviews of personalities who were there as they happened. I cannot imagine anyone interested in Americana or cars in general who would not be fascinated and impressed by this monumental and definitive pictorial of automobility. "America on Wheels" should be required reading by all students of sociology and American History, or for anyone who appreciates the art of quality bookmaking. It is well worth the money, a book you'll want to keep as long as you live. Inset quotes in old-time black and white frames are the chocolate syrup on the ice cream. In this sense, you'll eat it up! Highly recommended for all readers over 8 (exceptional reading level). Buy it today!

This book, the companion to the 1996 PBS series of the same name, gives a straightfoward accounting of the evolution of the automobile in this country. From the first baby steps of the Duryea Auto Wagon to the giant tracks of the latest Jeep Grand Cherokee, America on Wheels chronicles America's tempestuous love affair with their cars and the effects on US society. Everything from mating rituals to education to commerce have been affected by the advent of the auto and the authors chronologically link all together in an easy to understand but not oversimplistic text. If you liked your father's Oldsmobile or your own Mustang, read America On Wheels. - Leila Dunbar, Writer, Mobilia.com