✍ Scribed by Stephen J Page
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
With the rapid expansion in tourism publishing in the 1980s and 1990s and the trend towards to 'publish or perish', it is a welcome change to receive a book to review that makes a real contribution to knowledge in a field that is based on solid scholarship, painstaking research and not simply a regurgitation of what other authors have said on the topic. All too often, publishers look at the 'bottom line" and almost ascribe to a 'never mind the quality feel the width' philosophy seeking to gain market share with a book which is hastily produced to meet a market demand. Thankfully this excellent research monograph, produced in hardback, is a reflection of a publishers willingness to still commission books of scholarship and to support the development of subject areas even if they are not going to yield large profits in revenue compared to paperbacks with print runs in excess of 5000 books. Wiley are to be congratulated on supporting such a project which is based on the author's earlier research towards a doctorate on the historical geography of tourism and the subsequent publication of research papers on the subject since the mid-1980s. But what has this book got to offer a tourism audience?
First, it highlights the historical geographers concern with reconstructing past geographies of recreation and tourism, in particular the landscapes and activities which have left a legacy and evidence which can be pieced together to yield insights into the past. Second, the book identifies some of the methodologies used by historical geographers in the pursuit of reconstructing the past (i.e. change through time and cross-section methodologies), especially when the past may provide some understanding of the present day legacies of tourism and leisure activity reflected in the built and natural landscapes. In particular, the book highlights how continuity and change in the geographies post-1540 in Europe were
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