The Routes of Man: How Roads Are Changing the World and the Way We Live Today

it seems like the author was bending over backwards trying not to offend anyone which made for a shallow book. i much prefer paul theroux- at least hes honest.

Having read a positive review in The Economists usually excellent book section, I was disappointed by The Routes of Man. Mr. Conover is no doubt a writer of great culture and a hardy traveler. It takes such a person to seek out the meaning of roads in the inhospitable mahogany forests of Peru or the urban hell of Lagos, Nigeria. Unfortunately, two flaws prove to be this books undoing: style and politics. The book is detail-oriented to the point of losing the forest for the trees in all chapters. A skilled editor could have removed maybe one-third of the text without losing any of the narrative and leaving enough detail to convey a strong sense of place and time to the reader. Also, Mr. Conovers Western sensitivity and eco-friendliness are omnipresent and leave at times the stereotypical impression of the do-good, environmentally conscious American foisting his values on others without the necessary perspective or sense of consequences. Are we truly to believe that it is better to leave the inhabitants of a remote city in Peru rot in their misery than build the road that would give them a chance to prosper, even if a few acres of rain forest have to give way in the process? Is it really appropriate to peremptorily recommend to a Nigerian driver to not give a bribe to a local cop when the driver will have to live with the consequences long after Mr. Conover has jetted back stateside? Overall, and in spite of many insightful observations, this book is only worth recommending to readers with the right politics and the patience to weed out the detail.

I skimmed through it. There was not much that caught my interest. I did learn more than I needed to know about mahogany wood.

Another amazing look at how roads and highways shape the destiny and interconnectedness of man. Very engaging and extraordinarily well told. Well worth the time to read.

There is no cover page or table of contents in the kindle version (there are both of these in the hard copy) so I cant easily move back to the notes or bibliography while Im reading. The maps are nearly illegible except when I get out a magnifying glass. this book needs to be read in hard copy.

The subject is huge (roads, the biggest thing people have built) but the approach is specific, even intimate: Conover gets at the big story by telling smaller stories, and puts you right there-in the Hyundai, in the Humvee, in the Himalayan winter. Its an adventure story but its not macho, its human.

Picked this up for a recent plane flight to Africa, thinking it would give me plenty to read on the way over. Unfortunately, I screwed up - as I read the entire book on one flight, and was stuck with nothing but cheesy movies and in flight magazines for the second flight. Bad for me, but good for my review of the book. I loved it. Conover follows several roads throughout the world, and highlights the impact that these roads are having on the people. He typically withholds judgment and just tells the story, but at times it is clear that he is both thrilled by and challenged by the prospect of these roads. They open up new markets, allow people to buy and sell goods, and generally integrate people better into the capitalist, western culture. However, this is usually at some expense of their native culture - whether it is people in northern India, who for centuries have had to use a frozen river to access lands outside their own, or the burgeoning car culture of China - both are challenging what it means to traditionally live in those areas. Overall, I was engaged and excited at many points. I found myself looking at roads in my area of Africa and imagining the impact theyve had, as well as the roads back home. This book not only was an enjoyable read, it told a story that bears further thought and introspection.

Ted Conover is right about one thing, the emergence of roads in places where they previously does not exist is changing our global environment, both natural and business. What he does not do is take a stand on whether or not this is a good thing, bad thing or a mixed blessing. We are given a smattering of anecdotes regarding how roads are impacting places around the globe where they previously had no impact. We are not told if this is really anything good, bad or other wise. For example, he tells us the story of mahogany export in the jungles of Peru. We hear a very detailed blow by blow description of the trip but no real description of how the road is impacting or bettering the world. The same holds true for the descriptions of roads in China and India. They all have colorful stories but dont really give any solid examples or prove a theme. All in all it is a weak work because it tries to tell several stories but ends up telling none.

Ted Conovers The Routes of Man, is a first-person narrative of six separate road journeys. Three of the road tales take place in Asia, two in Africa and one in South America. Conover deftly separates each of his road tales with a bridge chapter, a short chapter focusing on the history of roads. One such example is a history of the extension of political and military power, cultural influence and the technological innovations of Roman Roads. His first journey begins in Peru where he seeks to find answers to the logging of mahogany in the Amazonian part of Peru where virgin mahogany trees still grow and are logged--legally and illegally. His second journey is to the high mountains of northern Kashmir, a border region where India, Pakistan and China come together. This is a cold, alpine clime; the road journey is actually a hike through a high mountain pass. Beware travelers, a modern road is coming soon and with it, will come the loss of local culture, history and tradition. There is sadness as the loss of local culture and history is imminent. His journey to East Africa is along a trucker road across Kenya into Uganda. He teams up with a trucker on a route that has become notorious in the spread of AIDS. His quest to find answers to the spread of AIDS is the quixotic Holy Grail of this journey. Conovers journey into the occupied West Bank and into Israel proper is tragic for what Israel has succeeded in doing: isolating and de-humanizing Palestinian people in their own land. A road system along with a so-called security fence has effectively produced an apartheid in which the Palestinian people cannot easily tend to their sheep and goats, prune their olive trees, visit with friends and relatives or simply get to work. For Palestinians, this cleverly designed road system has truly segregated an entire people. Conover evenhandedly narrates the difficult situation Israeli soldiers face at what are called checkpoints, a mix of permanent, semi-permanent or temporary military garrisons along the roads where Palestinans who need to travel face searches, long-lines and dehumanizing treatment. In China, Conover narrates a journey along a network of rapidly developing highways that within the next quarter-century are likely be overwhelmed with automobiles. Government policy has stated a goal to unite the nation to bring the outer parts of China (Tibet and Xinjiang) into the modern Chinese state. Modern high-speed highways will undoubtedly accelerate the Sinification of the country by the dominant Han Chinese. In this journey, Conover hooks up with nouveau riche Chinese members of a Beijing-based auto club who take a club-led road trip into the interior of China and visit among other sites, the nearly-complete Three Gorges Dam. Conovers last journey is to Lagos in Nigeria. No need to say more than this would not be a destination for people who fancy a driving vacation holiday. Good read! Five stars.

His previous work was outstanding and I wish that was the case here. Instead we have an author ‘mailing’ it in on the fame of a previous novel