Access to beaches is a concept that is foreign to me. In my island of Puerto Rico, all beaches are public. This may change soon, though, if the billionaires from the U.S. that use the island as a tax haven have their way. This is just to say that I was drawn to the book because of its theme.

Kahrl presents a world in which access to the beach was a matter of economics and therefore also a matter of race. In comes Ned Coll (a man I'd never heard of even though he ran for president--thought this was before I was born) to help desegregate these beaches and make them public. Kahrl's book is enlightening and did not shy away from the more controversial aspects of Coll's personality (which ultimately led to him losing a lot of supporters).

The desegregation of beaches have not received as much print coverage as that of buses or lunch counters and I am glad that there are people like Kahrl who are willing to share even the smallest slivers of that story.