On Foot: A History of Walking

To the pleasure of the reader, he scatters his text with pithy stories and comments: everywhere on Western streets, "walkers were bullied" from the beginning of World I to the end of World War II (227); the "shoe and tennis shoe industries" have grown, but society considers "not having to walk both a goal and an achievement" (231); "sitting" wins its battle over walking because of the 19th century industrial revolution (233); and, the suburbs in contemporary America have reduced walking, but suburban shopping malls have become "a new walking and talking haven for those isolated by suburban and city life (25O)."