{"product_id":"the-road-that-made-america-a-modern-pilgrims-journey-on-the-great-wagon-road-9781476746746","title":"The Road That Made America: A Modern Pilgrim's Journey on the Great Wagon Road","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn the bestselling tradition of Rinker Buck's \u003ci\u003eThe Oregon Trail \u003c\/i\u003eand Tony Horwitz's \u003ci\u003eConfederates in the Attic\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Road That Made America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eis a lively, epic account of one of the greatest untold stories in our nation's history--the eight-hundred-mile long Great Wagon Road that 18th-century American settlers forged from Philadelphia to Georgia that expanded the country dramatically in the decades before we ventured west. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLittle known today, the Great Wagon Road was the primary road of frontier America: a mass migration route that stretched more than eight hundred miles from Philadelphia to Augusta, Georgia. It opened the Southern frontier and wilderness east of the Appalachian Mountains to America's first settlers, and later served as the gateway for the exploration of the American West. In the mid-1700s, waves of European colonists in search of land for new homes left Pennsylvania to settle in the colonial backcountry of Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas. More than one hundred thousand settlers made the arduous trek, those who would become the foundational generations of the world's first true immigrant nation. In their newly formed village squares, democracy took root and bloomed. During the Revolutionary War, the road served as the key supply line to the American resistance in the western areas of the colonies, especially in the South. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing on years of fieldwork and scholarship by an army of archeologists, academics, archivists, preservationists, and passionate history lovers, James Dodson sets out to follow the road's original path from Philadelphia to Georgia. On his journey, he crosses six contiguous states and some of the most historic and hallowed landscapes of eastern America, touching many of the nation's most sacred battlefields and burying grounds. Due to its strategic importance, military engagements were staged along the Great Wagon Road throughout North America's three major wars, including the early days of the bloody French and Indian conflict and pivotal Revolutionary War encounters. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn time, the Great Wagon Road became America's first technology highway, as growing roadside villages and towns and cities became, in effect, the first incubators of America's early Industrial age. The people and ideas that traveled down the road shaped the character of the fledgling nation and helped define who we are today. Dodson's ancestors on both sides took the Great Wagon Road to Maryland and North Carolina, respectively, giving him a personal stake in uncovering the road's buried legacy. An illuminating and entertaining first-person history, \u003ci\u003eThe Road That Made America \u003c\/i\u003erestores this long-forgotten route to its rightful place in our national story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e James Dodson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Avid Reader Press \/ Simon \u0026amp; Schuster\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/01\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.25lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.29h x 6.06w x 1.42d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781476746746\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/01\/2025 pg. 12\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/26\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/06\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJames Dodson is the author of sixteen books, including \u003ci\u003eFinal Rounds\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Golfer's Life \u003c\/i\u003e(with Arnold Palmer), \u003ci\u003eBen Hogan: An American Life\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAmerican Triumvirate\u003c\/i\u003e, and\u003ci\u003e The Range Bucket List\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eHis work has appeared in over fifty magazines and newspapers worldwide. He is the only two-time winner of the United States Golf Association's Herbert Warren Wind Award for best golf book of the year. In 2011, Dodson was selected for membership in the Order of the Longleaf by the governor of North Carolina, a prestigious award for exemplary service to the state. He is the founding editor of \u003ci\u003eO Henry \u003c\/i\u003emagazine. He lives with his wife in North Carolina.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"James Dodson \/ Hardcover \/ English","offer_id":47279110357149,"sku":"9781476746746","price":50.53,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_944c55fd-7a77-4687-9db2-679c29b8959d.jpg?v=1759864766","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/the-road-that-made-america-a-modern-pilgrims-journey-on-the-great-wagon-road-9781476746746","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}