Highway Heist

In this eye-opening book, Professor James Bennett guides readers through centuries of one of the most underrated yet widely used aspects of American liferoads. Relying on history and economic dataand with a humorous and oftentimes sharp tongueBennett explains how important Americas highways and byways have been to everything from policymaking to everyday life. Crafting Americas roads took persuasion, planningand more taxes than any politician could have dreamed of. And far too often their realization, thanks, in Bennetts view, to flawed interpretations of the power of eminent domain, required destruction, sometimes on a massive scale, of long-established neighborhoods and important cityscapes. Likewise, the upkeep of Americas highways has been the center of many a policy battle, waged by Republicans and Democrats alike. Yes, we all want roads in good working conditionbut just how and who will pay for them remain contentious questions. Bennett argues persuasively that the road forward just might be a second, but more serious, sustained look at, and local experimentation with, private roads and toll roads. Agree or disagree with him, Bennett has written a significant contribution to Americas ongoing debate about how her citizens should traverse, from sea to shining sea, its fruited plain.