London was once blessed with spas set in gardens, where beneficial waters could be consumed and enjoyed in agreeable surroundings, sometimes with music, food and alcohol. They were, in effect, the pleasure resorts of the 18th century. With the aid of many images the author - one of England's most distinguished architectural historians - provides a racy, informative, humorous and well-researched social history of these fascinating, if ephemeral, little-known features of London life, some of which survived until early Victorian times.