A seaside resort 'built By gentlemen For gentlemen', Eastbourne has withstood the tides of change better than many of its rivals. Its original nineteenth century architects devised a settlement of wide and leafy villa-lined boulevards and, despite the depredations of the Second World War (when it suffered more air-raid damage than any other town in south-east England), Eastbourne retains much of that early grandeur today. In Eastbourne Past & Present, David Arscott contrasts scenes portrayed in archive photographs and old picture postcards with our restless modern townscape. Taking a route from the shopping centre and the South Street area, along the seafront and Seaside to the Old Town and the Meads, he discovers changes and continuities which will fascinate those who have lived here all their lives and will give newcomers and visitors a deeper understanding of this popular 'Empress of Watering Places.'