403Reviews / Journal of Historical Geography 35 (2009) 382–404

by truck and by bus, and finally to the development of

the convenience stores within gas stations.At several points the thesis seems to take a backseat to

the detail, and a tendency to list takes the place of analy-

sis. Perhaps it would have helped if the authors had ex-plored the categories of gender and race they mentionin the prologue. Admittedly, Virginia Scharff’s TakingtheWheel has already gone far in laying out the dynamics

of gender in early motoring in the US and the authors citeher findings. Race appears fleetingly here, such as themention that black ownership of dealerships increased

in the late twentieth century. But could we go further inanalyzing the subcultures of motoring as a way of betterunderstanding the construction of the presumably uni-

versal (but usually white male) norm? Identities tied tobrand loyalties developed and became part of familyand community subcultures. For example, for genera-tions many African–American buyers chose Chrysler

products; it may have begun as a reflection of Chrysler’sless segregationist employment policies, but it took ona cultural role that lasted longer than segregation itself.

Similarly, did subcultures of driving develop among Afri-can–Americans traveling back and forth between jobs inthe north and family in the south? We know the mythol-

ogy of Route 66. What about the north-south routes? Ja-kle and Sculle mention the ‘Dixie Highway’, itself a namefrom JimCrowAmerica that begs for analysis. In short, if

we want to understand the presumably universal motor-ing experience in the United States as well as how tochange it today, I think we need to include what was dis-tinct and explain how identities developed for various

groups within the United States.In the end, by combining these two books, readers

can find not only an interesting comparative perspective

for British and American motoring but also two verydifferent approaches. Merriman’s is as solidly researchedand carefully analyzed as any book on the history of

motoring. Jackle and Sculle’s narrative flows nicelyand could maintain interest among undergraduates orcar ‘buffs’. Of course the ideal geographical history ofmotoring might well include Merriman’s quite percep-

tive analysis, informed by both abundant primarysource work and cultural theory, packaged in thesmooth, quite accessible prose of Jakle and Sculle.

Stephen L. HarpUniversity of Akron, USA

doi:10.1016/j.jhg.2009.01.016

Gregg Mitman, Breathing Space: How Allergies Shape

Our Lives and Landscapes, New Haven, Yale UniversityPress, 2007, xv þ 312 pages, US$30 hardback.

Mitman’s compelling Breathing Space: How AllergiesShape Our Lives and Landscapes highlights the complexinteractions between respiratory allergies, the naturaland built environments, social class, medicine, technol-

ogy, and the economics of freeing bodies from allergens.By grounding the work in his own experience via theprologue and later in the discussion of allergy medica-

tions, Mitman effectively reminds the reader that aller-gies are personal to many of us. Despite our awarenessof allergies, attention is called to how and why they

play a role in our lives by illustrating a give-and-take re-lationship between humans and the environment(s) thatcause respiratory allergies. This leads to Mitman’s focuson how ‘Americans increasingly turned to altering the

environments of the city and home to fight disease’(p. 7). By viewing the history of allergic disease fromwhat he refers to as a ‘complex ecological perspective’

Mitman argues that we can better understand how theperpetual search for simple solutions to allergies alteredphysical landscapes and also created the modern land-

scape within which allergies reside today. In the end,there is clearly a call for a change in how society, andparticularly the medical/scholarly community, think

about allergic disease and its treatment. A single drugwill not bring an end to all allergies, and even if it could,what are the long-term costs to the human body? Couldeveryone afford such a treatment?

Each chapter in Breathing Space addresses the evolu-tion of a particular topic in the history of allergies anda general time period, thus identifying the medical/social

allergy related paradigm of each era and tracing its de-velopment. Following a clear introduction, the volumebegins in the nineteenth century with the movement of

individuals to fashionable hay fever resorts. HereMitman introduces a number of touch points for thebook including the socio-economic differences betweenthose who essentially can afford to have allergies and

those, usually among the working classes, who did notsuffer from allergies. Additional themes introducedhere include the role of the external environment/land-

scape in causing or combating allergies, the internal en-vironment of the human body as the focus of allergyremedy or prevention, and the unintended or unexpected

consequences of allergy relief or remedies. Chapter Twouses weed (primarily ragweed) eradication programs ini-tiated by public health departments in urban centers to

discuss the growing knowledge base of allergy causes

404 Reviews / Journal of Historical Geography 35 (2009) 382–404

and attempts at treatment and prevention through exter-

nal environment modification. Chapter Three focusesupon the unexpected consequences of altering seeminglysalubrious landscapes to meet social ideals by introduc-

ing the very allergens that necessitated the initial migra-tion. This transformation, according to Mitman,‘reinforced the need for a new space of hope withinthe body’s immunological landscape’ (p. 123) thus draw-

ing the reader into chapters Four and Five and the aller-gens within urban and suburban homes. The fourthchapter delves into the socio-racial inequalities of

asthma and allergies in large urban centers during the1960s, concentrating upon the homes of people whocould not afford to reside in better maintained locations.

Finally, chapters Five and Six bring technological ad-vances and the drug industry to the forefront ofMitman’s discussion. The idea of controlling the interiorenvironment in order to combat allergies is the focus of

chapter Five while chapter Six continues the discussionof unexpected consequences of trying to cure or controlallergies through various pharmaceutical endeavors.

Here Mitman moves the environment from the interiorof the home to the interior of the body as the alteredlandscape.

This shift in landscape location may be one of themore fascinating elements of the book. Mitman managesto incorporate a discussion of the body as landscape in

a volume that also works with landscape as environmentin a more traditional sense. There is a clear demonstra-tion throughout the book that location, regardless ofscale – region, city, part of a city, body – is important

to allergic reactions and the treatment of allergies. Forexample, Mitman begins by considering location withregard to the geography of plants and their role in hay

fever, but he also discusses how the location of allergytreatment shifted over time from simply moving one’sself from place to place, to controlling one’s place of res-

idence by removing allergens, to finally altering thehuman body as the place where allergies occur through

medications. The role of the environment, external,

man-made, or internal to the human body, providesa constant thread throughout this book that ties to-gether nineteenth century hay fever resorts to twenty-

first century broncodialators.Part of the accessibility of the volume comes from the

topic itself. So many people experience allergies or areclose to people who suffer from some kind of allergy.

This makes Mitman’s work something that readers canrelate to while at the same time encouraging them tothink about how something as seemingly minor as a pol-

len-induced runny nose could lead to dramatic land-scape alterations, the encouragement of urbanizationin places like Tucson, Arizona, and even the air filtration

industry. Mitman’s effective use of personal accountsground the reader in what is at stake for people who suf-fer from allergies. In particular, the discussion of his an-nual visits to the allergist and the need to reach

a compromise in the course of treatment providesa rather vivid reminder that for all that we have learnedabout health and medicine in the last 150 years, we still

cannot always predict the long-term impacts on the hu-man body and/or the natural world of the latest andgreatest treatments.

Mitman wanders slightly off course from his primarythesis once or twice in the middle of the volume, butnever so far afield that the side trip significantly detracts

from the whole work. This book could easily be recom-mended to those interested in historical medical geogra-phy and it would also be an excellent choice forundergraduate and graduate students taking course in

the history of medicine and public health.

Sarah E. Hinman

Idaho State University, USA

doi:10.1016/j.jhg.2009.01.017