The main purpose of this book is to demonstrate how in industrializing countries over the last 150 years, a particular type of maritime leisure resort was developed. Such resorts originally evolved to satisfy the new ethical values of the rising bourgeoisie and became a significant culturalinfluence in the adoption of a more amenity-oriented lifestyle for an increasing percentage of social classes. The author draws on detailed information from Bournemouth on the English South Coast, Nice in the South of France, and Los Angeles in the USA, and also discusses Wiesbaden, a German spatown, for comparative purposes. These developments subsequently had a direct bearing on the international town planning movement. They also created a wide variety of semi-skilled occupational opportunities and a post-industrial lifestyle that combined extensive leisure facilities with thedevelopment of professional service industries and infrastructures. The book makes a highly original contribution to the literature and will interest those concerned with the history of leisure and tourism, urban geography and planning.