A nifty history of the beach's role in (mostly) European culture from antiquity to the present, tracing the evolving perception of the beach from "wilderness" to "retreat for the wealthy (or the dropout)" to "vacation spot for the masses." Slights the 20th century, the New World, and popular culture, but still fascinating--a coastal version of Marjorie Hope Nicolson's _Mountain Gloom and Mountain Glory_. ( )