An intriguing exploration of a favorite pastime -- a trip to the beach.

"One night in 1883, David Bradley's candy stand was swamped by a storm. Not one to take a direct hit from adversity, the next day he decided to call his candy salt water taffy. Although the taffy's been dry ever since, the name has stuck for the past hundred years."

Did you know that women once wore corsets under their bathing suits (all drowning risks aside)? Or that beach-goers donned everything from wings to webbed gloves in hopes of learning how to swim? Or that hotel entrepreneurs lured wealthy customers to their seaside resorts with breakfast serenades from a forty-piece orchestra?

From the bathhouses of the ancient Greeks to Muscle Beach and Coney Island, Let's Go to the Beach takes a historical, sociological, and geographical look at beaches and their attant customs. With humor and intelligence, and a fascinating collection of-black-and- white photographs, Elizabeth Van Steenwyk offers up an impressive overview of one of the world's greatest pastimes.