Car wars: how the car won our hearts and conquered our cities

330 Pages·2004·2.393 MB·English

by  Graeme, Dunstan, David, McConville, Chris Davison

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C G R A E M E D A V I S O N
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This is the story of how the car changed a city. W
Graeme Davison, Australia’s leading urban historian, explores the
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Melbourne he knows so well to show us how the car entered our
national consciousness—as an object of desire, a status symbol,
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a creator of freedoms, a shaper of sexual mores. His is a fascinating
journey through landscapes changed and cities redesigned by the
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car, of mayhem on the road and influence in the world of politics,
of communities challenged and the environment threatened,
and of an ongoing love affair with a machine.
CAR WARSis a history of people, politics, landscapes, conflict,
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engineering, social movements and the environment. It is a story
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that is erudite, illuminating and elegantly told.
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Graeme Davison is among Australia’s most innovative historians. He is the Sir John M
Monash Distinguished Professor of History at Monash University. He has also held
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appointments at the Universities of Melbourne and Edinburgh, the Australian National
University and at Harvard, where he was Visiting Professor of Australian Studies.
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His main interest is in the history of cities. His books include The Rise and Fall of
Marvellous Melbourne, The Unforgiving Minuteand The Use and Abuse of Australian History. A
Graeme lives in suburban Melbourne. V
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Cover design: HOW THE CAR WON OUR HEARTS
Cover illustration: John Brack (1920–1999, Australia),
The Car,1955, oil on canvas, 41.0 x 101.8 cm, purchased
1956, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne AND CONQUERED OUR CITIES
C U R R E N T A F F A I R S / H I S T O RY
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CAR
WARS
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CAR
WARS
How the car won our hearts
and conquered our cities
GRAEME DAVISON
with
Sheryl Yelland
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First published in 2004
Copyright © Graeme Davison 2004
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying,recording or by any information storage
and retrieval system,without prior permission in writing from the
publisher.The Australian Copyright Act 1968(the Act) allows a
maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book,whichever
is the greater,to be photocopied by any educational institution for
its educational purposes provided that the educational institution
(or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to
Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.allenandunwin.com
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Davison,Graeme,1940- .
Car wars :How the car won our hearts and conquered our cities
Bibliography.
Includes index.
ISBN 1 74114 207 5.
1.Automobiles - Social aspects.2.Automobiles -
Psychological aspects.3.Automobiles - History.I.Title.
303.4832
Frontispiece:From Prospect Hill Road.(Photo Mark Strizic,1967)
Set in 11/14 pt Plantin Light by Midland Typesetters,Victoria
Printed by SRM Production Services Sdn Bhd,Malaysia
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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In memory of George Davison
1911–1998
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Contents
Introduction ix
1 Dream Machines 1
2 Women Take the Wheel 28
3 Sex,Speed and Power 48
4 The New Landscape 74
5 The Freedom of the Road 111
6 Blood on the Bitumen 143
7 Dream Highways 168
8 The Walls of Jericho 187
9 The Serpent in the Garden 219
10 On the Move? 239
Abbreviations 262
Notes 264
Select Bibliography 296
Index 302
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Melbourne suburbs