On Old-World Highways: A Book of Motor Rambles in France and Germany and the Record of a Pilgrimage from Land's End to John O'groats in Britain
1914
On Old-World Highways: A Book of Motor Rambles in France and Germany and the Record of a Pilgrimage from Land's End to John O'groats in Britain
1914
On Old-World Highways captures a moment in time that vanished forever just months after its publication. Written in 1914, Thos. D. Murphy's account of motor rambles through France, Germany, and across the full length of Britain traces journeys undertaken when automobile travel was still a daring adventure rather than a mundane necessity. The narrator and his party, guided by the capable Captain, navigate English country lanes toward the Channel crossing with genuine anticipation, their plans made through the Royal Automobile Club. What emerges is a portrait of a Europe about to be transformed: the charm of overlooked villages, the quality of light on French roads, the rough glory of the Scottish Highlands on the journey from Land's End to John O'Groats. Murphy writes with the observant pleasure of someone who knows this world is already passing. The book holds that fragile instant before the war that reshaped everything it describes, making every detail feel precious and irreplaceable. For readers who love vintage travel writing, early automobile history, or the simple pleasure of slow roads and unexpected discoveries, this is a dispatch from a vanished golden age.
