Sunshine Paradise

“An enlightening journey through Florida’s diverse and evolving tourism history, illustrating the changing face of tourism over the years, and how Floridians have coped with these changes. An informative look at Florida’s past efforts to woo tourists, and the mixed blessings that tourism has brought to the Sunshine State.”—Brian Rucker, author of Image and Reality

“At last—a readable, concise history of Florida tourism from the earliest European discovery to the present. Revels’s prose sizzles. Her ability to summarize and analyze more than 300 years of Florida tourism in just over 200 pages is truly stunning. It is a remarkable achievement. Sunshine Paradise both entertains and informs on every page, and it should be required reading for policy makers and everyone else who needs to know how current Florida came to be.”—James M. Denham, professor of history and director, Lawton M. Chiles Jr., Center for Florida History, Florida Southern College

“Naturally becomes a baseline body of work from which to understand historical tourism development. Highly recommended.”—Choice

“[A] much-welcomed, concise survey of Florida tourism from the days of Ponce de León to the present. … Provid[es] an engaging narrative. Tourists’ letters, popular travel guides, and the most recent scholarship inform this statewide study. Academics, students, and general readers interested in tourism and southern history will find this a rigorous, entertaining, and insightful overview.”—Journal of American History

“This well-researched, tightly organized and highly readable account of the interaction between the Florida tourist industry and the tourists it attracted offers insights into the evolution of social, economic and environmental attitudes of residents and visitors alike. It is an entertaining romp through Florida history.”—American Studies Journal

“Synthesizes existing scholarship on the history of Florida tourism into a lithe volume. … An important contribution to the field of Florida’s economic and social development.”—Journal of Southern History

“A narrative history embedded with analysis, this work does a good job of describing the evolution of tourism in Florida. Not shying away from the downsides of tourism there—racism, environmental damage, unfortunate impacts on host communities—the book illustrates just how important tourism has long been for Florida’s economic and social development.”—Cambridge Business History Review