Highway 17 : the Road to Santa Cruz by R Beal is a wonderful book for anyone interested in the history of this iconic roadway and the towns that it once serviced. Beal traces the funding history, engineers and government people involved with the planning and construction of the highway, and towns now gone that once lined the road. As a Bay Area native and one who has used the road countless times, the book afforded me a keen sense of the tremendous effort, expense, and sacrifice that went into the eventual realization of this local landmark called Highway 17.