Abstract
The history of the automobile, once thought to be largely the province of historians of business or technology or of popularists, has shown new life of late with the publication of several remarkably insightful interdisciplinary studies that take the car out of the assembly plant and garage. Brian Ladd and Cotten Seiler recognize that the automobile offers a unique window into the twentieth century and what it means to be human. Their books draw on cultural sources in ways that more fully explain the psychological and social aspects of the everyday life of automobile owners and users. (Author/publisher)