Description
Book SynopsisIn 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.
Trade ReviewElborough 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 *
Meticulously researched and trenchantly expressed,
Wish You Were Here is as bright and breezy as a trip in a pleasure steamer. *
Daily Mail *
[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 *
a charming study of our national beachside frolics *
Independent *
Timely, bittersweet beach reading *
Telegraph *
The perfect beach book *
Marie Claire *
