Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780807871270)

From nineteenth-century public baths to today's private backyard havens, swimming pools have long been a provocative symbol of American life. In this social and cultural history of swimming pools in the United States, Jeff Wiltse relates how, over the years, pools have served as asylums for the urban poor, leisure resorts for the masses, and private clubs for middle-class suburbanites. As sites of race riots, shrinking swimsuits, and conspicuous leisure, swimming pools reflect many of the tensions and transformations that have given rise to modern America.

Author: Jeff Wiltse
ISBN-10: 0807871273
ISBN-13: 9780807871270
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Language: English
Published: 05/01/2010
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 06/13/2010 pg. 28