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Chapter 10 - Road-testing the First Turnpikes

Defoe’s Account of English Highways

from Part 3 - Place

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2022

Pat Rogers
Affiliation:
University of South Florida
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Summary

Chapter 10 provides the first extensive commentary on a famous appendix to the Tour devoted to the new turnpike system, and documents the extent of Defoe’s knowledge of English highways, built up over many decades and covering large segments of the nation. As well as displaying his intimate knowledge of the commercial and economic activity of the nation, both internal and external, the book feeds on a lifetime of journeys across his homeland. This chapter seeks to describe major features of the account, to indicate its timeliness, and to explain the factors which enabled Defoe to provide an unrivalled picture of the communications network of his time. His appendix furnishes a comprehensive survey of road conditions, as part of the author’s overall design to show the interdependence of separate regions of the country, bound together in a circulation system centred on London. It connects with numerous observations throughout the the Tour regarding the road system and the state of the highways that served to link various stages of the narrative.

Type
Chapter
Information
Defoe's Tour and Early Modern Britain
Panorama of the Nation
, pp. 210 - 231
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Road-testing the First Turnpikes
  • Pat Rogers, University of South Florida
  • Book: Defoe's Tour and Early Modern Britain
  • Online publication: 04 February 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009106412.011
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  • Road-testing the First Turnpikes
  • Pat Rogers, University of South Florida
  • Book: Defoe's Tour and Early Modern Britain
  • Online publication: 04 February 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009106412.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Road-testing the First Turnpikes
  • Pat Rogers, University of South Florida
  • Book: Defoe's Tour and Early Modern Britain
  • Online publication: 04 February 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009106412.011
Available formats
×