This year marks the centennial of historic Route 66, and the premier book celebrating that event, “Route 66: The First 100 Years,” by Jim Ross and Shellee Graham, has earned two prestigious honors.

On May 16th it was awarded the Gold Medal for Best Coffee Table Book from the Independent Book Publishers Association, a national competition drawing nearly 2,000 entries. On the same day, it won the prestigious Oklahoma Book Award for Design/Illustration/Photography, recognizing the book’s outstanding visual presentation.

Released by Reedy Press of St. Louis in May 2025, the book is a biographical journey through the route’s birth, life, demise, renaissance, and legend. The authors, who have decades of experience exploring, documenting, and writing about Route 66, have published numerous other books and are both well- known ambassadors for America’s Mother Road.  Previously, the book was named to the Summer Reading List by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and chosen by Smithsonian Magazine as one of the 10 best travel books of 2025.

Route 66 conjures up images of dreamers, road-trippers, migrants, and nomads. On a deeper level, it is a story of escape, triumph, deliverance, and adventure during the best and worst of times. With over 400 photographs, many of them vintage, Route 66: The First 100 Years combines striking imagery with a compelling narrative celebrating the history, culture, and enduring legacy of America’s most famous highway. 

To view a sample of the book on Amazon, click here.