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Road Through Time: The Story of Humanity on the Move
Accessible and entertaining, Mary Soderstrom begins Road Through Time with the story of how anatomically modern humans left Africa to populate the world. She then carries us along the Silk Road in central Asia, and tells of roads built for war in Persia, the Andes, and the Roman Empire. She then sails across the seas, and introduces the first railways, all before plunking us down in the middle of a massive, modern freeway. The book closes with a view from the end of the road, literally and figuratively: asking, can we meet the challenges presented by a mode of travel dependent on hydrocarbons, or will we decline, as so many civilizations have in the past?
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
231 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2017
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359 people want to read
About the author
Mary Soderstrom
25 books79 followersMary Soderstrom is a Montreal-based writer of fiction and non-fiction whose next book--her 19th--Before We Forget: How Remembering Will Get Us Through the Next 75 Years will be published by Dundurn Press in March 2026. It follows in the footsteps of Against the Seas: Saving Civilizations from Rising Waters (Dundurn, 2023) and Concrete: From Ancient Origins to a Problematic Future {October 2020. University of Regina Press.}
In 2019 the UofRegina Press published her Frenemy Nations: Love and Hate between Neighbo(u)ring States which is an examination of why ten pairs of political entities--ranging from the formerly two Vietnams, through Haiti and the Dominican Republic and Vermont and New Hampshire to the US and Canada--are so similar in some respects, yet so different.
As Katia Grubisic writes about it in the Montreal Review of Books: "Soderstrom is interesting because she is interested... Her frequent asides – musings on language, geology, genetics, twins, what have you – are sharp and illuminating, sparking reflection and lightening the informational load."
Her Road through Time: The Story of Humanity on the Move (University of Regina Press) was published in 2017 to laudatory reviews in Quill & Quire, Publishers' Weekly and The Library Journal which called it "a must-read for all interested in society, past and present."
Her most recent work of fiction is River Music, a novel published by Cormorant Book in May 2015. In fall 2013 Oberon Press brought out her collection of short stories, Desire Lines: Stories of Love and Geography. Her last non-fiction book was Making Waves: The Continuing Portuguese Adventure (Véhicule Press, 2010) . Cormorant published her novel The Violets of Usambara in 2008. About a Canadian politician who is kidnapped in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, it is particularly relevant now in an era of terrorism around the world.
Her blog about books draws on her decades of reading, writing, reviewing and discussing: Not So Solitary a Pleasure (http://notsosolitaryapleasure.blogspo...) And for nearly a decade she has maintained an eclectic chronicle about politics, nature, cities and life, Recreating Eden (http://marysoderstrom.blogspot.com)
In 2019 the UofRegina Press published her Frenemy Nations: Love and Hate between Neighbo(u)ring States which is an examination of why ten pairs of political entities--ranging from the formerly two Vietnams, through Haiti and the Dominican Republic and Vermont and New Hampshire to the US and Canada--are so similar in some respects, yet so different.
As Katia Grubisic writes about it in the Montreal Review of Books: "Soderstrom is interesting because she is interested... Her frequent asides – musings on language, geology, genetics, twins, what have you – are sharp and illuminating, sparking reflection and lightening the informational load."
Her Road through Time: The Story of Humanity on the Move (University of Regina Press) was published in 2017 to laudatory reviews in Quill & Quire, Publishers' Weekly and The Library Journal which called it "a must-read for all interested in society, past and present."
Her most recent work of fiction is River Music, a novel published by Cormorant Book in May 2015. In fall 2013 Oberon Press brought out her collection of short stories, Desire Lines: Stories of Love and Geography. Her last non-fiction book was Making Waves: The Continuing Portuguese Adventure (Véhicule Press, 2010) . Cormorant published her novel The Violets of Usambara in 2008. About a Canadian politician who is kidnapped in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, it is particularly relevant now in an era of terrorism around the world.
Her blog about books draws on her decades of reading, writing, reviewing and discussing: Not So Solitary a Pleasure (http://notsosolitaryapleasure.blogspo...) And for nearly a decade she has maintained an eclectic chronicle about politics, nature, cities and life, Recreating Eden (http://marysoderstrom.blogspot.com)
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 1, 2017
'Road Through Time' by Mary Soderstrom
3.5 stars/ 7 out of 10
Mary Soderstrom has taken on (successfully) an immense task with this book, where she is looking at the journeys made by humans from the earliest times, and the impacts of these journeys on the surroundings.
Most of the chapters start by imagining someone at a particular stage in history, followed by a more general look at what possibly happened at that time. I thought the sections looking at the evidence were more successful than the 'imaginings' were; although I am sure that, for some people, the 'imaginings' will help to bring things to life.
The book has excellent illustrations and a detailed reference section at the end.
The book settles into its stride as it progresses. Among the things that interested me were the section about the importance of water for settlement proximity, the chapters entitled 'Into the Woods' (which included much interesting information about forests) and The Things They Carried' (where I learnt a lot about obsidian and lapis lazuli), and the section comparing Brasília with Curitiba. I found the section on road building fascinating, especially the information about China.
I have learnt a lot from this book, and I will now be looking to read other books by Mary Soderstrom.
Thank you to University of Regina Press and to NetGalley for an ARC.
3.5 stars/ 7 out of 10
Mary Soderstrom has taken on (successfully) an immense task with this book, where she is looking at the journeys made by humans from the earliest times, and the impacts of these journeys on the surroundings.
Most of the chapters start by imagining someone at a particular stage in history, followed by a more general look at what possibly happened at that time. I thought the sections looking at the evidence were more successful than the 'imaginings' were; although I am sure that, for some people, the 'imaginings' will help to bring things to life.
The book has excellent illustrations and a detailed reference section at the end.
The book settles into its stride as it progresses. Among the things that interested me were the section about the importance of water for settlement proximity, the chapters entitled 'Into the Woods' (which included much interesting information about forests) and The Things They Carried' (where I learnt a lot about obsidian and lapis lazuli), and the section comparing Brasília with Curitiba. I found the section on road building fascinating, especially the information about China.
I have learnt a lot from this book, and I will now be looking to read other books by Mary Soderstrom.
Thank you to University of Regina Press and to NetGalley for an ARC.
November 23, 2019
Mary Soderstrom is an engaging guide as she sweeps the reader along in this fascinating account of humanity's path out of Africa, what they carried and what they left behind.
Her research is thorough and lots of references give a multitude of directions for further exploration.
Her conclusions are sobering. Are we on the road to extinction?
We cannot ignore the knowledge we have gained. p175
Ironically, that much of the web of roads built in the last 50 years will be as transitory as a message written on wet sand at low tide, becoming routes that only exploring divers of the future will see. 179
March 30, 2017
From Publishers' Weekly:
"Soderstrom (Making Waves: The Continuing Portuguese Adventure) gives a thought-provoking, modern overview of humanity’s grand migrations in the ancient past, framed by her own nostalgic memories of a road trip during her childhood,. Sometime between 50,000 and 80,0000 years before modern transportation, anatomically modern humans trudged their way out of Africa to every corner of the Old World not covered by ice, and then beyond. Soderstrom explores the paths these travelers took on land and by sea, the objects they carried with them, and the ways in which they transformed the world. Having painted a picture of the achievements of our species in its childhood, the author ponders whether humans will survive and thrive or be among the victims of the changes they have wrought."
And from Quill and Quire:
"The concept...is striking and draws on an affinity to topography that Soderstrom has displayed in fiction (Desire Lines: Stories of Love and Geography) and non-fiction (Green City: People, Nature, & Urban Life). From our first ancestors onward, humans have shaped and been shaped by the roads they have carved, stumbled upon, and, frequently, destroyed. At its most engaging, Road Through Time provides a lucidly written overview of this particular march through the lens of time: the discovery of horses as transport, the invention of the wheel, the establishment of early trade routes, and the expansion of empires through war. Soderstrom’s narrative picks up steam, literally, as she takes us through the development of trains in the 19th century and automobiles in the 20th."
"Soderstrom (Making Waves: The Continuing Portuguese Adventure) gives a thought-provoking, modern overview of humanity’s grand migrations in the ancient past, framed by her own nostalgic memories of a road trip during her childhood,. Sometime between 50,000 and 80,0000 years before modern transportation, anatomically modern humans trudged their way out of Africa to every corner of the Old World not covered by ice, and then beyond. Soderstrom explores the paths these travelers took on land and by sea, the objects they carried with them, and the ways in which they transformed the world. Having painted a picture of the achievements of our species in its childhood, the author ponders whether humans will survive and thrive or be among the victims of the changes they have wrought."
And from Quill and Quire:
"The concept...is striking and draws on an affinity to topography that Soderstrom has displayed in fiction (Desire Lines: Stories of Love and Geography) and non-fiction (Green City: People, Nature, & Urban Life). From our first ancestors onward, humans have shaped and been shaped by the roads they have carved, stumbled upon, and, frequently, destroyed. At its most engaging, Road Through Time provides a lucidly written overview of this particular march through the lens of time: the discovery of horses as transport, the invention of the wheel, the establishment of early trade routes, and the expansion of empires through war. Soderstrom’s narrative picks up steam, literally, as she takes us through the development of trains in the 19th century and automobiles in the 20th."
March 30, 2017
Man's journey starting some time between 50 000 and 80 000 years ago when man left Africa where he had always lived and started his gradual move across the world ending in South America where the book also ends in recent times with Soderstrom's journey on a modern road between the Atlantic coast at Sao Paulo to the Pacific Ocean in Peru. During the trip she appreciates the beauty around her and laments the harm man has done and is doing to the world.
I especially appreciated the imaginary stories Soderstrom tells at the beginning moving to more personal recollections in more modern times while also bringing in Jack Kerouac's novel 'The Road'.
Although at points I found the book a little dull, it was overall interesting and informative.
I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher. This is my voluntary review.
I especially appreciated the imaginary stories Soderstrom tells at the beginning moving to more personal recollections in more modern times while also bringing in Jack Kerouac's novel 'The Road'.
Although at points I found the book a little dull, it was overall interesting and informative.
I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher. This is my voluntary review.
November 3, 2017
In a Road Through Time, the author takes us from how the first humans traveled long distances on foot to the building of modern highways. Very ambitious undertaking. Well researched and documented, including recent scientific findings. Thought provoking; in a relatively short time we have had a significant impact on the world we live in. I would have appreciated the inclusion of more maps (there was one).
May 28, 2024
A great book!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews