The Routes of Man: How Roads Are Changing the World and the Way We Live Today

The subject is huge (roads, the biggest thing people have built) but the approach is specific, even intimate: Conover gets at the big story by telling smaller stories, and puts you right there-in the Hyundai, in the Humvee, in the Himalayan winter. Its an adventure story but its not macho, its human.

Conovers writing puts the readers third eye directly in the drivers seat and walk of people around the world on various roads. Infrastructure is ultimately but but not without a price. Progress of roads is not often in favor of long term survival of smaller sized cultures and ecosystems. A road but in Peru encourages illegal loggers to come in and further exploit the depleiting mahogany in the amazon. Plans to build a road for villagers in zanskar offers to make life easier for the villagers and open up new opportunities while potentially diluting their culture with the assimilation into mainstream cultures. Roads in Kenya used by many truckers becomes a transmission channel for the aids virus while boosting the economy. The 69 road between Israel and Palestine is literally a road that is primarily used for war. Newly built roads in china offer citizens car experiences similar to what Americans may had experienced in the forties and fifties while increasing amounts of pollution and pushing ancient cultures off their land. Roads in western Africa become hot spots for schemers, thieves and desperate people. This book is well written and offers insight into endless roads that are increasingly connected, literally and metaphorically in our modern global used world. It begs of the question: are roads and endless pavement always a good thing? Often, it becomes evident that they are not.

We love roads, and we come to hate them. Anyone, writes Conover in his opening paragraph, who has benefited from a better road--a shorter route, a smoother and safer drive--can testify to the importance of good roads. But when humans strive, we also err, and it is hard to build without destroying. That contradiction, that tension underlies the book. A road from Perus Altiplano into the jungle allows access to valuable mahogany trees, but also threatens primitive people and an established ecology. In East Africa, a road that is a clear economic boon to many has also helped the spread of AIDS, via truckers and prostitutes along its length. Roads are integral to development, and development can look disastrous. There is nothing armchair about Conovers reporting. He clearly has a library and has read widely, but each of the six chapters is written from inside a culture, whether the author is zipping along the new highways of China or riding inside an ambulance through the teeming, chaotic city of Lagos, Nigeria. Its a book full of people, and the conflicts are inevitable. Why, a friend asks the author, would he go to Lagos, a city which Conover admits has few museums, not too many antiquities, only a handful of public spaces or buildings of note, and stunningly little natural beauty. It does, however, have a reputation for crime, and lots of lots of people. Because people are interesting, Conover says, and So is crime. So are the politics of Israel and Palestine--and the chapter on the roads of the West Bank is the best piece of journalism Ive ever read about that conflict. Conover explores the Israeli checkpoints in the company of both Palestinians and the Israeli soldiers who try to control them. Its degrading to both sides. The soldiers are looking for guns, explosives and suicide bombers, and most Palestinians are simply trying to get to work, or get home. Israels management of the West Bank often comes down to restricting the travel of the Palestinians, and when Conover is in line with them as they move on foot toward a pair of turnstiles, an exercise in gradual compression, the reader gets a visceral feel for their frustration and humiliation. The soldiers dont like it either. Innocent civilians...are inevitably damaged by the armys work in the territories, Conover writes. He spends weeks with an Israeli commander and his men, who not only run the checkpoints but sometimes tear up Palestinian houses in search of arms. Its bad for the families, the commander says, But whats not plain until the fifteenth time is that its bad for you. Six fascinating travels interspersed with engaging personal essays: a great book.

This book examines the culture that exists around the road, because of the road. All of the journeys Conover undertakes and the people he meets are directly influenced by the roads they travel. This book is about how culture changes with different types of roads. I think it is clear that Conover prefers lots of culture to high speed travel that good roads bring (see the section about India and the rural teacher who comments on too much culture), and therefore creation of a transoceanic highway would destroy a fragile culture balance that exists in the Peruvian Andes, something that he would like to revisit but feels will be gone before he or anyone else can make it back. Thanks, Mr. Conover, for allowing us to travel with you and showing us what to look for in our travels.

I picked up this book after reading a review in, I think, the Economist. This is a wonderful book and well written. Roads are the unifying theme and Conover retells the varied ancounters which he had travelling far flung places. What makes this book outstanding is not only the writing and the experience but that Conover manages to be humble and to appreciate all the people whom he meets. Even though he travels far and wide, he never comes over as the self centered adventurer. he retains a quiet, held back tone, describing trips with car clubs in China, travels with illegal loggers in Peru or the experience of Palestinians in their homeland with compassion, interest and without passing judgement. Roads, like Megacities, are destined to be the future of humankind and he captures this very well. He also captures the attraction of the road excellently. The only misgiving which I have is that this is basically a collection of excellently written travelogues and description, but he fails at really coming up with an overarching theme or narrative. It never becomes clear why he actaully chose those places and how he really puts them into a larger context.

Realistic, objective descriptions of parts of the world I will most likely never get to see first hand.

My praise to Ted for his clear sentences and yet descriptive writing that gives one a feeling and vision of the journey. I like his writing enough that I will seek his other books. My son is a biologist, my science minor in preparation of my teaching degree and my age (72) give me some background to what is being said throughtout the book. I am not yet finished and I am recommending the book to my friends. the findings and the Title have the main theme of these routes of our world. The research and actual adventures make for the perfect view of the particular route being described. The stories are like short stories gathered in one book so this is a good read for me. My husband has had Parkinsons for 18 years and I do not find time to read as I used to. I am his caregiver --we try to do things together most of the time. Whatever your age or life --I feel this book is a MUST READ!

Great book! The author is courageous to the nth degree in an understated, mindful sort of way.

Picked this up for a recent plane flight to Africa, thinking it would give me plenty to read on the way over. Unfortunately, I screwed up - as I read the entire book on one flight, and was stuck with nothing but cheesy movies and in flight magazines for the second flight. Bad for me, but good for my review of the book. I loved it. Conover follows several roads throughout the world, and highlights the impact that these roads are having on the people. He typically withholds judgment and just tells the story, but at times it is clear that he is both thrilled by and challenged by the prospect of these roads. They open up new markets, allow people to buy and sell goods, and generally integrate people better into the capitalist, western culture. However, this is usually at some expense of their native culture - whether it is people in northern India, who for centuries have had to use a frozen river to access lands outside their own, or the burgeoning car culture of China - both are challenging what it means to traditionally live in those areas. Overall, I was engaged and excited at many points. I found myself looking at roads in my area of Africa and imagining the impact theyve had, as well as the roads back home. This book not only was an enjoyable read, it told a story that bears further thought and introspection.

Very interesting read by one of my favorite authors. If youre an armchair traveler or road trip enthusiast, its worth checking out this book.