Car wars

Graeme Davison explores the Melbourne he knows so well to show us how the car entered our consciousness - as an object of desire, a symbol of status, a creator of freedoms, a shaper of sexual mores. His is a journey through landscapes changed and cities redesigned by the car, and a story 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. "Graeme Davison, Australia's leading urban historian, explores the Melbourne he knows so well to show us how the car entered our national consciousness--as an object of desire, a status symbol, a creator of freedoms, a shaper of sexual mores." ... "Car Wars is a history of people, landscapes, conflict, engineering, social movements and the environment."--Back cover.