American Journey: On the Road with Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and John Burroughs

In this rambling history, journalist Davis (The Ariadne Objective) views the push-pull between America’s “modern bustle” and “dream of agrarian stability” through the unique lens of a series of road trips undertaken in the early 20th century. The centerpiece of the narrative is a 1918 automobile expedition through southern Appalachia led by car manufacturer Henry Ford, naturalist John Burroughs, and inventor Thomas Edison, but Davis also recounts separate excursions made by these friends and others to visit Ralph Waldo Emerson’s home in Massachusetts, the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, and the Green Mountains of Vermont. The unlikely friendship between Burroughs and Ford developed after the former wrote an article complaining that the automobile “could only have a negative impact on the natural world and America’s appreciation of its riches and wonders.” He became a quick convert to the new technology, however, after receiving a Model T as a gift from Ford and realizing that cars had the potential “to make more of the natural world accessible to more people.” Davis conveys the excitement and danger of early automobile travel and crafts memorable set pieces, including a rain-soaked camping adventure reminiscent of a Buster Keaton comedy, but his digressions sometimes stall the narrative’s forward momentum. Still, this historical road trip is well worth taking. Photos. (June)