Audio slideshow: Houses and highways

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/8072165.stm

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In the decades following the end of World War II, suburban sprawl started to stretch out from US cities - alongside new, fast, multi-lane freeways.

Here, Professor of International History David Reynolds - from the BBC Radio 4 series America, Empire of Liberty - charts the growth of the suburbs, and explains why skin colour prevented some families from starting a new life.

Photos courtesy Getty Images. Music courtesy KPM Music.1952 audio archive courtesy Ford Motor Company.

Slideshow by Paul Kerley. Publication date 1 June 2009.

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From Monday 1 June, Professor David Reynolds presents <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/america/">America, Empire of Liberty</a> - a landmark series on the history of the United States.

This slideshow features extracts from the episode The Suburban Republic, which broadcasts on Wednesday 3 June at 1545 BST on <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4">BBC Radio 4</a> .

More audio slideshows in the series <a class="bodl" href="/1/hi/world/7858777.stm">America's early skyscrapers </a> <a class="bodl" href="/1/hi/world/7896380.stm">The jazz age hits Main Street</a> <a class="bodl" href="/1/hi/world/7900122.stm">The road to Hooverville</a>