This book is the story of two holiday camp chains established in the 1930s that provided thousands with packaged pleasure. Warner and Butlin's commercial camps emerged at the intersection of cultural shifts that politicised working-class leisure and consumption. Entertainment fostered in the post-war camps provided a forum for popular pleasure that reinforced the idea of a 'national' culture grown from the common experience of war.

Butlin and Warner, the big commercial chains of the 50s and 60s, are enmeshed in our social and cultural history. Dawson uncovers the significance of the holiday camps to the political, economic, social, and cultural history of twentieth-century Britain, drawing on an impressive variety of sources, from government documents to trade journals, advertising, photographs, oral histories, literature, films and songs.

This unique volume will be of interest to academics and specialists of British social history, popular culture and tourism studies whilst remaining accessible to enthusiasts.

About the Author
Sandra Dawson is an Instructor in History and Women's Studies at Northern Illinois University

Reviews

'This is an excellent book that examines the history of holiday camps and paid holidays.'
Brad Beaven, English Historical Review, vol 128, no 530, February 2013

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Book Information
ISBN 9780719080715
Author Sandra Dawson
Format Hardback
Page Count 264
Imprint Manchester University Press
Publisher Manchester University Press
Weight(grams) 544g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 156mm * 16mm