Sarah Schrank is Professor of History at California State University, Long Beach and author of Art and the City: Civic Imagination and Cultural Authority in Los Angeles, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.

"This excellent book examines nudity and changing American notions of the body from the early twentieth century to the present . . . Well-researched, well-written, accessible, and fascinating, Free and Natural deserves a wide scholarly and popular readership." (Southern California Quarterly) "Sarah Schrank's excellent new book Free and Natural charts the evolution of nudism in the United States . . . American history, Schrank teaches us, can be chronicled on our attitudes toward naked bodies, which reflect the forward march of capitalism more than any sort of radicalism." (Pacific Historical Review) "Uncovering truths about the meaning of the body that are not as self-evident as its unadorned form would claim, Sarah Schrank's Free and Natural is a lively, enlightening book authored by an accomplished historian at the height of her powers." (Whitney Strub, Rutgers University-Newark) "A rich narrative and rewarding read, Free and Natural reveals the long backstories behind contemporary debates about our bodily selves and provocatively reframes the study of 'the body' as deeply enmeshed in multiple strands of modern cultural history-notably, the shifting beliefs about nature and environment as well as public and private space." (Phoebe S. K. Young, University of Colorado Boulder)

• Introduction. On Being Free and NaturalChapter 1. Welcome to the Nudist ColonyChapter 2. Naked at HomeChapter 3. Therapeutic Nudist RetreatsChapter 4. Swinging SuburbsChapter 5. How to Free a BeachChapter 6. Naked Lifestyle ConsumerismEpilogue. Bodies Out of PlaceNotesIndexAcknowledgments

Sarah Schrank is Professor of History at California State University, Long Beach and author of Art and the City: Civic Imagination and Cultural Authority in Los Angeles, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.

"This excellent book examines nudity and changing American notions of the body from the early twentieth century to the present . . . Well-researched, well-written, accessible, and fascinating, Free and Natural deserves a wide scholarly and popular readership." (Southern California Quarterly) "Sarah Schrank's excellent new book Free and Natural charts the evolution of nudism in the United States . . . American history, Schrank teaches us, can be chronicled on our attitudes toward naked bodies, which reflect the forward march of capitalism more than any sort of radicalism." (Pacific Historical Review) "Uncovering truths about the meaning of the body that are not as self-evident as its unadorned form would claim, Sarah Schrank's Free and Natural is a lively, enlightening book authored by an accomplished historian at the height of her powers." (Whitney Strub, Rutgers University-Newark) "A rich narrative and rewarding read, Free and Natural reveals the long backstories behind contemporary debates about our bodily selves and provocatively reframes the study of 'the body' as deeply enmeshed in multiple strands of modern cultural history-notably, the shifting beliefs about nature and environment as well as public and private space." (Phoebe S. K. Young, University of Colorado Boulder)

• Introduction. On Being Free and NaturalChapter 1. Welcome to the Nudist ColonyChapter 2. Naked at HomeChapter 3. Therapeutic Nudist RetreatsChapter 4. Swinging SuburbsChapter 5. How to Free a BeachChapter 6. Naked Lifestyle ConsumerismEpilogue. Bodies Out of PlaceNotesIndexAcknowledgments

Sarah Schrank is Professor of History at California State University, Long Beach and author of Art and the City: Civic Imagination and Cultural Authority in Los Angeles, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.

"This excellent book examines nudity and changing American notions of the body from the early twentieth century to the present . . . Well-researched, well-written, accessible, and fascinating, Free and Natural deserves a wide scholarly and popular readership." (Southern California Quarterly) "Sarah Schrank's excellent new book Free and Natural charts the evolution of nudism in the United States . . . American history, Schrank teaches us, can be chronicled on our attitudes toward naked bodies, which reflect the forward march of capitalism more than any sort of radicalism." (Pacific Historical Review) "Uncovering truths about the meaning of the body that are not as self-evident as its unadorned form would claim, Sarah Schrank's Free and Natural is a lively, enlightening book authored by an accomplished historian at the height of her powers." (Whitney Strub, Rutgers University-Newark) "A rich narrative and rewarding read, Free and Natural reveals the long backstories behind contemporary debates about our bodily selves and provocatively reframes the study of 'the body' as deeply enmeshed in multiple strands of modern cultural history-notably, the shifting beliefs about nature and environment as well as public and private space." (Phoebe S. K. Young, University of Colorado Boulder)

• Introduction. On Being Free and NaturalChapter 1. Welcome to the Nudist ColonyChapter 2. Naked at HomeChapter 3. Therapeutic Nudist RetreatsChapter 4. Swinging SuburbsChapter 5. How to Free a BeachChapter 6. Naked Lifestyle ConsumerismEpilogue. Bodies Out of PlaceNotesIndexAcknowledgments