The Rise and Rise of Road Transport, 1700-1990

Most books about Britain’s transport history have concentrated upon canals and railways. It is now clear that a great deal of traffic went by road even before turnpikes, and that goods as well as passenger services were much more highly developed than used to be supposed. This book is an important survey of road transport over the past three centuries. The authors summarise the new evidence and arguments and explain why we need to take a longer view of the subject. They shed new light on the importance of horse-drawn freight in the eighteenth century before the introduction of turnpikes, offset the undue attention paid to the railways in the nineteenth century, and stress that motor transport’s present great importance only dates from the 1950s. A full bibliography is provided for more extended study.