This brief text examines the central role of the automobile in American life in the late twentieth-century. Synthesizing and discussing the most insightful monographs written about the automobile, Mark Foster provides students with an enlightening history of one of America's most recognizable contributions to industrialized society. This volume is part of the AMERICA SINCE 1945 series--a collection of brief texts that seek to define the ways in which the United States has changed in the last 50 years.