BBC4 have made some riveting programmes on roads in the last few years such as The Secret History of the Motorway. The experts assumed an inferior position; Fort either interrupted them or responded to their observations with gales of forced laughter.

So it covers a wide range of interests, but you will enjoy it more if you are familiar with the A303. And The A303 also wanders off into the worlds of the pig, of the Little Chef chain, of Camelot, of Jeremy Clarkson, naturally, and of 1970s transport ministers, and tells the fascinating tale of the murderer, imposter and "monacled mutineer" Percy Toplis, who killed the taxi driver Sidney Spicer on the A303 in 1920. It goes past Stonehenge and has an interesting history from Roman Times to Medieval Times, the advent of toll roads and its extension as a Trunk road in the 1960s and the era of Harold Wilson's White Heat of technology. It was stop/start from the Ilminster bypass to halfway down Rawridge Hill, then 40 to Honiton and the D2. Photograph: John Holdsworth/BBC A303: Highway to the Sun presenter Tom Fort and his 'ropey old Morris Minor van'.

Whilst the book covers the history and development of the A303 as one of the major holiday routes through the West Country, it is also far more than that. Like the road, the book is unsatisfactory in places - spending a bit too long on well-documented Stonehenge whereas more time could have been spent on some of the obscure sites and sights. He sounds as if he can't wait to finish his account so that he can go fishing, which is what he enjoys most. I loved the account of Heston Blumental fruitlessly attempting to refresh the Little Chef at Popham Services. I was never quite sure what political affiliation the author held, as he seemed equally dismissive of most political persuasions, although his particular dislikes shone through pretty clearly, and I don't think there was ever a Minister of Transport that was held in any kind of esteem.

There are quotes from Thomas Malory about King Arthur and his trip to Amesbury; visits to grand houses such as Montacute; perorations on the state of British farming. This is a book about a road for chrissakes and unlike America, with its Mother Roads and California Highways, the UK just doesn't cut it. A nostalgic experience, informative, humorous, charming, but pervaded by the bittersweet scent of regret' - Daily Mail You may also be interested in.After all, the literal 'road maps' and plans cost a few million to draw up before even a square metre of tarmac is raised.

We still travel along this road from time to time, but it doesn't have the same romance that it used to. The author takes a trip down the road from east to west, reflecting his description of it as the "highway to the sun" - that is, the route which started so many summer holidays in the south-west of England.I was pleasantly surprised with the program in question as it was a nice balance between the road itself and the surrounding history. Wincanton is one of the few towns to be twinned with a fictional place, Ankh-Morpork from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. But I did not know a very great deal else that is here, and it is the millennia-spanning nature of the book that gives it its charm and point. His object is to reveal the special beauty of the landscape, particularly Salisbury Plain and Stonehenge (pictured). While ostensibly about the road itself, it's more of a whistle-stop tour of historical and/or interesting locations to be found along the route, with a mix of passing mentions and deeper introductions to the same.