Dream Road to Pan America A Century in Pursuit of the World's Longest Highway

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Miller, Shawn William

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pan American Highway System--History.

Pan American Highway System.

Roads--America--Design and construction--History.

Roads.

Transit, International--America--History.

Transit, International.

Transportation, Automotive--America--History.

Transportation, Automotive.

Roads--Design and construction--History.

Transportation, Automotive--History.

America.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley University of California Press 2026

Summary:

An expansive and subversive history of the Pan-American Highway. A century after the Pan-American Highway was first conceived, its story remains largely unknown--even to the hundreds of motorists who annually attempt the 30,000-kilometer drive from far northern Alaska to the tip of Tierra del Fuego. There is more to the highway, however, than the persistent allure of the open road. In Dream Road to Pan America, historian Shawn William Miller unveils a larger tale of lofty ideals and bedrock greed, romantic adventure and pragmatic diplomacy, immigrant desperation and Indigenous resistance. This book journeys to the early 1920s when everyday Americans invented the idea of a road that would spread fraternity, democracy, and prosperity across the hemisphere. It looks at the commercial and geopolitical interests that shaped the highway--often with little concern for those living along its margins--and explains why the road became an escape route for millions of migrants rather than a corridor for tourists. Miller contends that the highway's troubled past points to an unresolved future, offering insights into the growing costs of continuing down well-worn paths

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources

Includes bibliographical references and index

Other Format:

Print version :

ISBN:

0520416945

9780520416949

OCLC:

1584462844

Publisher Number:

CIPO000365654

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license