Book Log 2010 #42: The King's Best Highway by Eric Jaffe

From native footpath to blueprint for highways, the history of the Boston Post Road (which ran from Boston to New York using both inland an coastal routes) is retold here in great detail. Not surprisingly, the history of the road is a history of American transportation in microcosm, developing into a more modern road before becoming the template for new rails and roads. The book follows a similar path, as the book becomes less about the road as the American transportation system becomes less and less reliant on it. I also tended to find the book got less interesting as this happened, either through greater familiarity with the more recent history or by comparison with the really interesting early days of the road.

Still, there's a good deal here to recommend itself to anyone interested in colonial/early US history or transportation. My only quibble with the book's writing is the continued use of "the Bay" as a shorthand reference to Boston and the Boston area. I've lived in Boston or the Boston area all my life and have never heard anyone here use "the Bay" as an offhanded reference to the city or the region. Outside of that annoyance, though, I enjoyed the book quite a bit.