Road (Through the Ages) - Hardcover

This is the story of a road network and the people who have built it over the ages. The road is not to be found on any map and has not been given official numbers but there are many roads like them and many that share their history. The story is set in Western Europe, but roads were also built long ago in other parts of the world. The Royal Road of the Persians, in use from 3500 to 300 B.C. was more than 1,500 miles long. The road's surface was probably hard-packed soil, but one stone-surfaced section has survived in modern Turkey. Fine roads were also built in ancient China. In 221 B.C. the Chinese emperor decreed that the roads used to carry the royal mail should be 50 paces wide. 500 years ago the Incas of South America also built long highways with tunnels, bridges and causeways. Today, major highways link cities around the world. In the United States alone there are more than 3,484,000 miles of surfaced road, used by more than 176 million motor vehicles.