Harley E. Jolley explores the Blue Ridge Parkway through the history of its landscape architecture. As Roger Martin states in the introduction, "The design and construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway is an illustration of the kind of quality possible in an enlightened democracy. It is the true example of how a society can properly care for its land and its people."
This book is an overview of the Blue Ridge Parkway's first fifty years, with photographs by William Bake. Noted Blue Ridge Parkway Historian Harley E. Jolley wrote the descriptions and text.