About this item

Cycling has experienced a renaissance in the United States, as cities around the country promote the bicycle as an alternative means of transportation. In the process, debates about the nature of bicycles - where they belong, how they should be ridden, how cities should or should not accommodate them - have played out in the media, on city streets, and in city halls. Very few people recognize, however, that these questions are more than a century old.The Cycling City is a sharp history of the bicycle's rise and fall in the late nineteenth century. In the 1890s, American cities were home to more cyclists, more cycling infrastructure, more bicycle friendly legislation, and a richer cycling culture than anywhere else in the world. Evan Friss unearths the hidden history of the cycling city, demonstrating that diverse groups of cyclists managed to remap cities with new roads, paths, and laws, challenge social conventions, and even dream up a new urban ideal inspired by the bicycle.



About the Author

Evan Friss

Evan Friss is a history professor at James Madison University. Friss holds a Ph.D. in History from the Graduate Center, City University of New York and an M.A. in History and a Certificate in Archival Management from New York University. Aside from reading, writing, and teaching history, he enjoys running and spending time with his wife and two children.



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