In this compelling and generously illustrated exploration of beach life over the last 90 years, writer, historian and style commentator Douglas Lloyd Jenkins examines how attitudes towards the beach have evolved and how the beach - a hot bed of hedonistic pleasures as well as a magnet for holidaying families - has in turn brought about important social change. Open to all, yet increasingly fringed with expensive property accessible only to the rich, the New Zealand beach has always been a place of extremes

In Beach Life, Lloyd Jenkins provides a colourful account of the pioneering trends and pivotal influences that have shaped Kiwis enduring attraction to the beach and the lasting impact the beach has had on every aspect of New Zealand society."--Publisher's information.