You wouldn't think that a numbered A-road would make for an interesting enough subject to fill an entire book, but apparently the A303 has quite the fan club! Enough, certainly, for this to be a revised second edition, and for there to be a companion documentary series for TV 😲 Well, I haven't watched that show, but the book is (in fairness) surprisingly interesting. Thankfully, it doesn't focus on the road alone, but rather provides a potted history of the areas of Southern England that the route passes through, which gives it a much broader scope and significantly bumps up the overall value.

For those that are unaware, the A303 was intended to be a major trunk road that connected London to Exeter (and, originally, the rest of the South West, right down to the tip of the country in Cornwall, not that those plans have ever materialised). Whilst it has since been superseded by more modern motorways to the north, it remains a major route that connects a lot of the towns and cities in Southern England, as well as several major tourist and heritage sites, most notably Stonehenge, which is fully visible from the road as you speed past. Indeed, the road's now archaic proximity to such important cultural landmarks is one of the reasons that it does appear to be quite so popular, and as someone who has now become accustomed to driving it on our way down to Hampshire or Devon, I'll admit that it's certainly a lot more interesting than the M4 or other options. Still, the book never quite manages to convince me that the road itself is anything more than its stated purpose: a transport link. I guess I'm just a lost cause.

What it has convinced me of is that this is a region full of interesting places that I should try and visit. To his credit, Tom Fort is an excellent writer who manages the travel-diary style well, imbuing the pages with his own sense of wonder and intrigue, dragging you along for the ride with very few complaints. There is a funny byline throughout the book, remarking on the trials and tribulations of the once-great British fast food chain, Little Chef, which in this revised edition gets an initial footnote admitting that the jokes are no longer as relevant, seeing as the company went bankrupt years ago and is no longer to be found anywhere, let alone along the A303. Similarly, I found some of the focal points a little odd, particularly when it comes to architecture, and would have loved a little more history in places, but overall it does a fair job of spreading the interest along the route in total.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see that Fort is no typical "motor head" and, despite the subject matter, pulls few punches when it comes to discussing the environmental impact, pollution, health concerns, and overall detriment of cars and, by extension, roads. Indeed, some of the more interesting (and surprising) sections detailed how the "car lobby" rose to ascendency in the UK, and the political effect that has had, particularly in more recent times when road building itself may be stagnant or declining, but positive action to push for alternative transport remains heavily lobbied against. These focus both on the national-level impact, as well as specific towns and communities, many of whom have been stuck for decades in a sort of car-based purgatory, trying to get byways and alterations to route the A303 around population centres without much success. It's a very specific but surprisingly fascinating look at both our relationship as a society to cars, and how the politics and interest groups that have arisen around that relationship have been shaped by (and continue to shape) us in return.

All of which is to say that I found myself enjoying the book a lot more than I had expected. It's nicely composed, well paced, pleasantly informative, and manages to surprise throughout, both with the subject matter and with the way it is presented. I wouldn't class it as a "must read", but if you're interested in either car-based politics or the history of Southern England, it will contain enough to hold your attention.