{"product_id":"automotive-empire-how-cars-and-roads-fueled-european-colonialism-in-africa-9781501775369","title":"Automotive Empire: How Cars and Roads Fueled European Colonialism in Africa","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAutomotive Empire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e, Andrew Denning uncovers how roads and vehicles began to transform colonial societies across Africa but rarely in the manner Europeans expected.\u003c\/b\u003e Like seafaring ships and railroads, automobiles and roads were more than a mode of transport--they organized colonial spaces and structured the political, economic, and social relations of empire, both within African colonies and between colonies and the European metropole. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEuropean officials in French, Italian, British, German, Belgian, and Portuguese territories in Africa shared a common challenge--the transport problem. While they imagined that roads would radiate commerce and political hegemony by collapsing space, the pressures of constructing and maintaining roads rendered colonial administration thin, ineffective, and capricious. Automotive empire emerged as the European solution to the transport problem, but revealed weakness as much as it extended power. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs \u003ci\u003eAutomotive Empire\u003c\/i\u003e reveals, motor vehicles and roads seemed the ideal solution to the colonial transport problem. They were cheaper and quicker to construct than railroads, overcame the environmental limitations of rivers, and did not depend on the recruitment and supervision of African porters. At this pivotal moment of African colonialism, when European powers transitioned from claiming territories to administering and exploiting them, automotive empire defined colonial states and societies, along with the brutal and capricious nature of European colonialism itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAndrew Denning is Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Kansas. He is author of \u003ci\u003eSkiing into Modernity\u003c\/i\u003e and coeditor of \u003ci\u003eThe Interwar World\u003c\/i\u003e. His work has also appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Journal of Modern History\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e American Historical Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTechnology and Culture\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eEnvironmental History\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornell University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50457958285586,"sku":"9781501775369","price":159.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_48572d35-9b29-41d3-b385-c101463aaf78.jpg?v=1729947455","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/automotive-empire-how-cars-and-roads-fueled-european-colonialism-in-africa-9781501775369","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}