A spirited, urgent book that reveals the costs and benefits of being connected--how, from ancient Rome to the present, roads have played a crucial role in human life, advancing civilization even as they set it back.

Includes maps of: Peru; Zanskar; Tanzania - Kenya; Israel; Hubei Province - Beijing; Lagos.

Forest primeval to Park Avenue -- Road, or not a road? -- Slipping from Shangri-La -- Road ecology -- The road is very unfair -- Double-edged roads -- A war you can commute to -- Speed up! -- Capitalist roaders -- Growing Broadway -- Drive soft : life no get duplicate.