John K. Walton is professor of Social History in the Institute for Northern Studies at Leeds Metropolitan University. He has worked on the history of the British seaside (especially Blackpool and Whitby) for many years, as well as writing about tourism and resorts in Spain (especially San Sebastián), Belgium, France, the United States (especially Coney Island), and Latin America. He also writes about popular culture, regional history and regional identities, especially in Lancashire and the Basque Country. His books include "The Blackpool Landlady" (Manchester, 1978); "The English Seaside Resort 1750-1914" (Leicester, 1983); "Lancashire: a Social History 1558-1939" (Manchester, 1987); "Fish and Chips and the British Working Class 1870 1940" (Leicester, 1992); "Blackpool" (Edinburgh, 1998); "The British Seaside: Holidays and Resorts in the Twentieth Century" (Manchester, 2000); "Histories of Tourism" (Editor, Clevedon, 2005); (with Gary Cross), "The Playful Crowd: Pleasure Places in the Twentieth Century" (New York, 2005).