Imprint
- Sceptre
- Sceptre
Prose: non-fiction, Travel & holiday
A fascinating look into how and why the English love to be beside the seaside.
In this gloriously original social history, Travis Elborough argues that our national character - our snobbishness and willingness to laugh at ourselves, our attitudes to sex and fair play and our chequered relationship with national pride - has been forged against a backdrop of stormy skies and pebbly beaches. Covering everything from Agatha Christie to the Prince Regent via Billy Butlin and Brighton Rock, this is a book for anyone who has ever wrestled with a deckchair, braved a sopping esplanade or felt the crunch of sand in a sandwich.
More books by Travis Elborough
Praise for Wish You Were Here: England on Sea
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Elborough is an English nostalgist in the mode of John Betjeman... as a cultural commentator [Elborough] is a terrific companion... Wish You Were Here is quirky, chatty, charming and optimistic - an ideal read for the English beach. - Frances Wilson, Sunday Times
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Meticulously researched and trenchantly expressed, Wish You Were Here is as bright and breezy as a trip in a pleasure steamer. - Daily Mail
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The perfect beach book - Marie Claire
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[Elborough] has done his research thoroughly and writes with enormous wit and feeling. His book punches far above its weight in both style and substance. - Mail on Sunday
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a charming study of our national beachside frolics - Independent
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Timely, bittersweet beach reading - Telegraph
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