Erected to inform travellers how far they have come & how far they still have to go, milestones are a relic of a time when life moved more slowly. This book tells the story of milestones & the technology they reflect, as well as road measurement. It uses the great variety of designs & styles to argue the historical importance of conservation & to illustrate the compelling fascination of the subject. Mervyn Benford has worked in education all his professional life & has a consuming interest in history. Concerned at the rate at which evidence of the past disappears, often inadequately recorded, he believes that the understanding of history, the ability to understand cause & effect, to interpret evidence & to recognise what changes & what does not, are all central to an effective society.