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A Ride Across America

A Ride Across America

‘Parker magnificently chronicles the America he encounters, a divided, disfranchised collection of states he fears for but comes to love for their generosity, community spirit and sense of hope’ Ben East, Observer

Frustrated by the shallow headlines focusing only on Trump, borders and division, award-winning travel writer Simon Parker decided that to better understand today’s USA he would have to travel across it, slowly.

Did the America of his teenage dreams really exist? And was it really as fractured as the headlines suggest? On his journey to find out, Simon cycled 4,373 miles through eleven states and numerous extreme weather events, via mountains and prairie lands, forests and freeways. Along the way he visited homes, schools, churches and rodeos, meeting hundreds of (extra)ordinary Americans behind the clickbait news posts to discover a nation whose portrayal has become vastly oversimplified.

Revolution

Drawing on a range of sources from cycling club journals to the writings of H.G. Wells, Revolution illuminates the major impact the bicycle had on the day-to-day lives of people across the social spectrum with millions experiencing a cheap and personalised means of transport for the first time. For women, it was known as the great emancipator from crib, kitchen and convention. Affordable to the working class, cycling dramatically increased the number of potential marriage partners and has a significant impact on widening Britain’s gene pool.

Revolution delves into the social history of cycling in 1890s Britain while exploring international parallels that existed in countries including the US, France and Australia.

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