Ways of escape (1993)

Modern life is often described as an iron cage from which there is no escape. But popular culture venerates leisure and travel as authentic escape routes from routine and monotony. However, what kind of escape is tolerated in modern society? How is it sheped by historical expectations of leisure and travel? And what do we actually experience when we engage in leisure of travel activity? This book tries to supply answers to these questions. The author grounds the concepts of leisure and travel in the history of the management of pleasure. In a timespan that stretches from the middle ages to the present day he shows how our ideas of leisure and travel have developed. But the book is more than a mere history. It is the first book to situate leisure and travel in the context of the debate on modernity and postmodernity. And it gives students of culture and leisure guides to the new escape centres opening up in contemporary society, such as ‘Black Spots’, ‘Heritage Centres’, ‘Literary landscapes’, ‘Theme parks’ and ‘post tourist’ settings. Richly illustrated and written in an engaging style, the book will be of interest to students in the sociology of leisure, cultural studies and modernity/postmodernity.