Take a dip into the history, design, and people behind the world's most fascinating outdoor swimming pools.

The 1930s architecture of pools is often sleek and elegant, evoking speed and efficiency--and this volume captures their unique beauty in a series of spectacular photographs and archival images. It delves into their history: the pools' grand beginnings after the buttoned-up Victorian era, their falling popularity in the twentieth century, and the newfound appreciation for the outdoor pool, or lido, and outdoor swimming today. Journalist and architectural historian Christopher Beanland picks the very best examples from around the world, including the nearly 450-foot-deep seawater pool in Vancouver, Canada; Siza's concrete sea pools in Porto, Portugal; the restored art deco pool in Saltdean, UK, and the pool at the Zollverein Coal Mines in Essen, Germany. There's also information on lost lidos, background on the architecture of the pools, and interviews with pool users around the globe about why they swim.