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<p>List of Figures ix</p> <p>Series Editors’ Preface xii</p> <p>Acknowledgements xiii</p> <p><b>1 Introduction: Driving Spaces 1</b></p> <p>Mobilities 4</p> <p>Driving, Space, Social Relations 6</p> <p>Driving, Landscape, Visuality 12</p> <p>Geographies of the Modern Road 16</p> <p>Contents of the Book 20</p> <p><b>2 Envisioning British Motorways 23</b></p> <p>Motoring and the Motor-Car Way, 1896–1930 24</p> <p>The German Autobahnen: The Politics and Aesthetics of a Nation’s Roads 31</p> <p>Motorways for Britain? National Plans, National Defence 38</p> <p>Motorways, War and Reconstruction 43</p> <p>Motorways and the British Landscape 46</p> <p><b>3 Designing and Landscaping the M1 60</b></p> <p>Legislating and Campaigning: Towards a National Motorway Network 61</p> <p>Locating the M1: Regional Planning, Local Protests and the Authority of the Engineer 67</p> <p>Landscape Architecture and the Post-war, Modern Road 73</p> <p>‘A New Look at the English Landscape’: Landscape Architecture, Movement and the Aesthetics of a Modern Motorway 83</p> <p>Towards a Road Style: Service Areas in the Landscape 90</p> <p>‘Cutting Holes in the Landscape’: Britain’s Motorway Signs 97</p> <p><b>4 Constructing the M1 103</b></p> <p>‘Operation Motorway’: Constructing the M1 Motorway 104<br /> Song of a Road: Folk Song, Working-Class Culture and the Labour of a Motorway 124</p> <p><b>5 Driving, Consuming and Governing the M 1 141</b></p> <p>Motorway Driving, Embodiment, Competence 143</p> <p>‘Motorway Madness’: Driving, Governing, Expertise 152</p> <p>Motorway Modern: Consuming the M 1 162</p> <p>Motorway Service Areas and the Motorist-Consumer 178</p> <p>Assessing the M1’s Performance: Cost-Benefit Analysis, Scientific Experiments, Accidents 186</p> <p><b>6 Motorways and Driving since the 1960s 200</b></p> <p>The ‘M1 Corridor’ 202</p> <p>Motorways and ‘the Environment’ 204</p> <p>Dystopian and Marginal Landscapes? 208</p> <p>Placeless Environments? 210</p> <p>Placing the M1 in the Late Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries 213</p> <p>Appendix: Archival Sources 219<br /> Notes 224<br /> References 246<br /> Index 285</p>

"While I wish that he had synthesized his research in a strong conclusion, this criticism should not diminish the merits of the book. The empirical results and the study's framework deserve a firm place in the history of technology." (Technology & Culture, 1 January 2011)<br /> <br /> <p>"Merriman’s systematic, detailed and precisely documented description of the cultural context of the M1 will itself stand as a valuable documentary resource for researchers and students alike" (<i>Area</i>, December 2008)</p> <p>"Thoroughly researched and full of rich … <i>Driving Spaces</i> presents the historical trajectory of the M1 Motorway through a series of cultural and political stages." (<i>Journal of British Studies</i>, October 2008)</p> <p>“Merriman provides a fascinating perspective on the social and cultural aspects of driving and highways … in this multidisciplinary study. Includes … numerous references … .Recommended.” (<i>Choice</i>)</p>

<b>Peter Merriman</b> is a Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. His research focuses on mobility and social theory, spaces of driving, and cultures of landscapes in twentieth century Britain. His work has been published in a range of edited collections and international journals, including<i> Journal of Historical Geography, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Cultural Geographies</i> and <i>Theory, Culture and Society</i>.

This academic study offers a unique perspective on the production and consumption of spaces of driving. Focusing on the design, construction and use of England’s M1 motorway in the 1950s and 1960s, Peter Merriman traces the social and cultural geographies and histories of the spaces of motorway driving. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach, engaging with theoretical and empirical work from across the social sciences and humanities. It draws upon extensive archive research and contemporary debates within cultural and historical geography to examine a series of modern spaces which have been largely ignored by scholars in the social sciences and humanities. Merriman covers a wide range of topics, including the envisioning of Britain’s motorways in the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s, debates about the design, construction, landscaping and consumption of the M1 in the 1950s and 1960s, and changing attitudes to motoring and motorways since the 1960s. The book explores how the motorway was constructed as a modern space by politicians, designers, engineers, and scientists, as well as social commentators and the motoring public.

"This is a terrific analysis of the making of a mobile landscape. It does an excellent job of deciphering the multiple lineaments of fast, smooth motorized passages of, in this case, the making of the UK’s iconic M1."<br /> –<b>John Urry</b>, University of Lancaster <p><!--end-->"The M1 has been with us for long enough for us to take it for granted and proceed (along it) as if it had always been there. Consequently it was ripe for just this kind of cultural historical study that reminds us it was once shockingly new, a less than certain enterprise and, ultimately, an astounding (and still evolving) construction in soil, concrete and guttering."<br /> –<b>Eric Laurier</b>, University of Edinburgh</p>

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