Leadville (book)

Leadville is a book by English writer Edward Platt, published in 2000 by Picador. It won both the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize[1] and the Somerset Maugham Award.[2] Cambridge History of Science lecturer Patricia Fara selected it as one of her books of the decade.[3]

Leadville: A biography of the A140
First edition
AuthorEdward Platt
Cover artistGigi Sudbury
Catherine Platt
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
PublisherPicador
Publication date
2000
Pages293
AwardsJohn Llewellyn Rhys Prize
Somerset Maugham Award
ISBN0-330-39262-X

Subtitled "A Biography of the A40" and with the strapline "A Journey from White City to the Hangar Lane Gyratory" it tells the story of Western Avenue, an arterial road in West London primarily through the words of its residents whom the author visited between 1995 and 1998. At this time many of the houses on the road were being compulsorily purchased and demolished in preparation for a road widening scheme which was later cancelled. Interspersed with the views of the residents are historical accounts of the road's development and wider views on town planning and traffic management, prominently those of Le Corbusier and Robert Moses.

References
  1. Booktrust - John Llewellyn Prize archive Archived 2012-04-01 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2015-04-16.
  2. Somerset Maugham Past Winners | Society of Authors Archived 2016-06-26 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2015-04-16.
  3. Blackwell's Books of the Decade Retrieved 2015-04-17.
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