 | The Playful Crowd: Pleasure Places in the Twentieth Century Subjects: Amusement parks -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Amusement parks -- Social aspects -- England -- History -- 20th century; From "Sodoms by the sea" at Coney Island and Blackpool to carefully orchestrated corporate entertainment, The Playful Crowd compares the pursuit of pleasure on both sides of the Atlantic. The authors capture the gritty vulgarity and charms of Coney Island and Blackpool and examine how Disneyland and Beamish, a heritage park that celebrates Britain's industrial and social history, evoke certain types of nostalgia. Gary S. Cross is professor of history at Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of several titles, including An All-Consuming Century: Why Commercialism Won in Modern America (Columbia, 2000).John K. Walton is professor of social history at the University of Central Lancashire. His most recent book is The British Seaside: Holidays and Resorts in the Twentieth Century . Gary Cross is professor of history at Penn State and the author of An All-Consuming Century (CUP, 2000); Time and Money: The Making of Consumerist Modernity (Routledge, 1993; A Quest for Time: The Reduction of Work in Britain and France, 1840-1940 (University of California Press, 1989) and A Social History of Leisure since 1600 (Venture, 1990) Gary Cross is professor of history at Penn State and the author of An All-Consuming Century (CUP, 2000); Time and Money: The Making of Consumerist Modernity (Routledge, 1993; A Quest for Time: The Reduction of Work in Britain and France, 1840-1940 (University of California Press, 1989) and A Social History of Leisure since 1600 (Venture, 1990) |
