The perfect gift for motoring and technology enthusiasts - a guide to the history and future of cars.

The reach of the car today is almost universal, and its effect on landscapes, cityscapes, cultures indeed, on the very fabric of the modern world is profound. Cars have brought benefits to individuals in terms of mobility and expanded horizons, but the cost has been very high in terms of damage to the environment and the consumption of precious resources. Despite the growing belief that a Faustian price is now being paid for the freedom cars have bestowed on us, we are none the less manufacturing them in ever greater numbers. Autopia is the first book to explore the culture of the motor car in the widest possible sense. Featuring newly commissioned essays by writers, critics, historians, artists and film-makers, as well as reprinting key texts, it examines the effect of the car throughout the world, including the USA, Western and Eastern Europe, Japan, China, Cuba, India and South Africa. In this book the car is treated neither as a technological fetish object nor as an instrument of danger. Instead, it is examined as a hugely important determinant of 20th-century culture, neither wholly good nor an unmitigated disaster, and certainly endlessly fascinating. Contributors include Michael Bracewell, Ziauddin Sardar, Al Rees, Martin Pawley, Donald Richie and Peter Hamilton. Key texts by Marshall Berman, Jane Jacobs, Roland Barthes, Marc Auge and others."

Early to mid-twentieth-century America was the heyday of a car culture that has been called an "automobile utopia." In American Autopia, Gabrielle Esperdy examines how the automobile influenced architectural and urban discourse in the United States from the earliest days of the auto industry to the aftermath of the 1970s oil crisis. Paying particular attention to developments after World War II, Esperdy creates a narrative that extends from U.S. Routes 1 and 66 to the Las Vegas Strip to California freeways, with stops at gas stations, diners, main drags, shopping centers, and parking lots along the way. While it addresses the development of auto-oriented landscapes and infrastructures, American Autopia is not a conventional history, offering instead an exploration of the wide-ranging evolution of car-centric territories and drive-in typologies, looking at how they were scrutinized by diverse cultural observers in the middle of the twentieth century. Drawing on work published in the popular and professional press, and generously illustrated with evocative images, the book shows how figures as diverse as designer Victor Gruen, geographer Jean Gottmann, theorist Denise Scott Brown, critic J.B. Jackson, and historian Reyner Banham constructed "autopia" as a place and an idea. The result is an intellectual history and interpretive roadmap to the United States of the Automobile.

"Flat-out one of the most interesting books I've read in years. To say that a book about California might rank with Kevin Starr's Americans and the California Dream or Mike Davis' City of Quartz is dangerously high praise, but I think Axelrod's book may someday be in that league."—John Ganim, University of California, Riverside "Inventing Autopia thoughtfully weaves together planning and policy history with cultural history to great effect. It is sure to change our understanding of the ways in which Los Angeles not only grew and developed but envisioned itself in the era."—William Deverell, author of Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of Its Mexican Past

Originally published: London: Allen Lane, 1971.

Spanning the entire history of the park, from its founding more than 50 years ago to the present, this fascinating book explores 500 attractions, restaurants, stores, events, and significant people from Disneyland. Each of the main encyclopedia entries illuminates the history of a Disneyland landmark, revealing the initial planning strategies for the park’s iconic attractions and detailing how they evolved over the decades. Enriching this unique A-to-Z chronicle are profiles of the personalities who imagined and engineered the kingdom known as “The Happiest Place on Earth.” Discover unbuilt concepts, including Liberty Street, Rock Candy Mountain, and Chinatown, and delight in fascinating trivia about long-lost Disneyland features, from the real rifles in the shooting gallery that used to be located on Main Street to the jet-packed Rocket Man who flew above Tomorrowland. Overflowing with meticulously researched details and written in a spirited, accessible style, The Disneyland Encyclopedia is a comprehensive and entertaining exploration of the most-influential, most-renovated, and most-loved theme park in the world!

This enthusiastic investigation of Disneyland's hidden treasures leads both first-time visitors and aficionados through the legendary theme park while pointing out tiny surprises around each turn. Helpfully organized as a reading tour, this guidebook features the whereabouts of many of Disneyland's secrets, including the locations of several “Hidden Mickeys,” and original movie props that appear around the park. Also included are original illustrations, trivia, and an exploration of Disneyland's history, which notes the subtle tributes Walt Disney placed throughout the grounds honoring the people who made the park possible. Also included are fascinating facts about Disneyland and American history that will interest teachers and tour guides as well as the 13.9 million guests who visit Disneyland every year.

The Great Race recounts the exciting story of a century-long battle among automakers for market share, profit, and technological dominance—and the thrilling race to build the car of the future. The world’s great manufacturing juggernaut—the $3 trillion automotive industry—is in the throes of a revolution. Its future will include cars Henry Ford and Karl Benz could scarcely imagine. They will drive themselves, won’t consume oil, and will come in radical shapes and sizes. But the path to that future is fraught. The top contenders are two traditional manufacturing giants, the US and Japan, and a newcomer, China. Team America has a powerful and little-known weapon in its arsenal: a small group of technology buffs and regulators from California. The story of why and how these men and women could shape the future—how you move, how you work, how you live on Earth—is an unexpected tale filled with unforgettable characters: a scorned chemistry professor, a South African visionary who went for broke, an ambitious Chinese ex-pat, a quixotic Japanese nuclear engineer, and a string of billion-dollar wagers by governments and corporations. “To explain the scramble for the next-generation auto—and the roles played in that race by governments, auto makers, venture capitalists, environmentalists, and private inventors—comes Levi Tillemann’s The Great Race…Mr. Tillemann seems ideally cast to guide us through the big ideas percolating in the world’s far-flung workshops and labs” (The Wall Street Journal). His account is incisive and riveting, explaining how America bounced back in this global contest and what it will take to command the industrial future.

What is it like to be the eyes and ears of the institution known as "The Happiest Place on Earth?" How does it really feel to work day in and day out leading part of the world famous Disneyland Custodial Team? Just how do they keep such a busy place so clean? Find the answers to these questions and more as secrets are revealed in this unauthorized, honest, and affectionate memoir from insiders who struggled to keep guest happy, tame wild new cast members, and keep the original Disneyland clean through a time of tremendous change, growth, and controversy for the Resort. You'll discover that cleaning up is just a part of the job as you experience heartwarming triumphs, heartbreaking tragedies, and hearty laughs along with the people who lived them.

Presents essays on all phases of the American automobile industry and the effect of its product on individual lives and the culture of the society.