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The Beach
- Author
- Gideon Bosker
- Narrator
- Nadia May
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 2 November 2009
- Run Time
- 13 hours 8 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Here for the first time is the full story of the seashore: its natural and social history, spectacles, and scandals. The turquoise surf and sugary sand of the beach make it a favorite retreat today, but this wasn’t always so. The oceans of antiquity engendered contradictory feelings. Greek and Roman myths filled it with bellicose monsters and alluring sirens. Medieval Europeans feared immersion in water. But the rediscovery of its medicinal attractions in the seventeenth century soon glorified the beach as an avenue for social pursuits.
In this elegant and illuminating account, Lencek and Bosker chart the evolution of the seaside from the margins of civilization, when “exotic” meant remote and terrifying, to its present role as the center of recreation and escape. Sexuality, health, fashion, sport, beach architecture, and beachwear all have their place in the progression toward the beach resorts that represent nirvana for the twentieth-century pleasure seeker.
Critics Review
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“Scholarly and briskly good-humored.”
New York Times Book Review
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“A light and agreeable chronicle of the seashore.”
Boston Globe
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“This book should appeal to many readers because it is packed with good tidbits to ponder between naps on the beach.”
Amazon.com, editorial review
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“A valuable addition to the literature on the cultural politics of leisure-time activities.”
Library Journal
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“Lenček and Bosker are serious about the beach’s role in history and its appeal to the human imagination.”
Kirkus Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Gideon Bosker
- Narrator
- Nadia May
- Duration
- 13 hours 8 minutes
- Release Date
- 2 November 2009
- ISBN
- 9781483054995
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Nature and the natural world: general interest, The Earth: natural history: general interest, Coastlines
Synopsis
Here for the first time is the full story of the seashore: its natural and social history, spectacles, and scandals. The turquoise surf and sugary sand of the beach make it a favorite retreat today, but this wasn’t always so. The oceans of antiquity engendered contradictory feelings. Greek and Roman myths filled it with bellicose monsters and alluring sirens. Medieval Europeans feared immersion in water. But the rediscovery of its medicinal attractions in the seventeenth century soon glorified the beach as an avenue for social pursuits.In this elegant and illuminating account, Lencek and Bosker chart the evolution of the seaside from the margins of civilization, when “exotic” meant remote and terrifying, to its present role as the center of recreation and escape. Sexuality, health, fashion, sport, beach architecture, and beachwear all have their place in the progression toward the beach resorts that represent nirvana for the twentieth-century pleasure seeker.
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