Beach Life A Celebration of Kiwi Beach Culture

A fascinating account of how the beach has influenced New Zealand lifestyle, culture and identity.  Experiencing beach life is simply part of being a New Zealander. It has helped shape our annual summer holiday, the games we play, the clothes we wear and the houses we build. It has also played an important role in the development of Kiwi identity. 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.