100 Years of the Seaside

A visual record of the nation's love affair with its beaches: the unique phenomenon that is the British seaside. Contains around 300 photographs from PA Photos' huge archives, spanning the whole of the 20th Century. Hand-picked by PA Photos' own archivists, most of these images have lain unseen since they were used as news pictures when first taken. Each image has been scanned especially for this book, many from glass plates, ensuring the best possible quality of reproduction. Britain's love of its pleasure beaches gave rise to a peculiar holiday culture - the seaside. Here a usually reserved nation would let its hair down, roll up its trousers, put on a kiss-me-quick hat and laugh at bawdy entertainers. From Victorian sobriety and Edwardian elegance through working-class high spirits to the present day, this book celebrates the place that the seaside holds in all our hearts.