In the eighteenth century, when society's passion for 'taking the waters' coincided with increasingly dangerous continental travel, Cheltenham's chalybeate springs were endowed with almost magical curative qualities by speculators anxious to emulate Bath's legendary sucess. In what was still an obscure agricultural community below the Cotswold Hills a cabal of entrepreneurs raised fancy pump rooms in which the great and the good might dance and flirt. With George III's visit Cheltenham became the most fashionable resort in England, where wealthy arrivals were greeted by a band in the street and deposed European royalty (carrying bloodied momentoes) took refuge. The Duke of Wellington danced in what is now Lloyds bank and William Cobbett came to sneer at 'the lame and lazy, the gourmandising and guzzling.' In this entertaining and beautifully illustrated book, Stephen Morris captures the essence of the town: its creamy-white villas and elegant avenues, its modest but lovely streets and its extraordinary history.

This is a book that celebrates [Cheltenham's architectural preservation] more lavishly than any other on the market, past or present. There's a sharp edge to Stephen Morris's writing - but his photographs simply invite us to sit back and revel in a town which, through his lens, at least, is a very special place. Western Daily Press A fine book which will help you to look at the town's architectural heritage through fresh eyes. Cheltenham Civic Society Newsletter Stephen Morris is a superlative photographer with a great eye for detail - bringing the very three-dimensional art of architecture alive in two dimensional format. Nevertheless 'Cheltenham' is much more than a coffee table book of seductive photographs of this supremely elegant Gloucestershire spa town, and Morris reveals himself to be much more than a photographer, being a keen observer and chronicler of place and people... I feel delightfully and painlessly educated by this beautifully presented book that does justice to this treasure of a town and reminds me to check out its lodgings for a long weekend of intelligent diversions. Bristol Review of Books Distills the essence of the town's grand modishness, cosmopolitan intellectualism and surprisingly convoluted history. The intrigue's one thing, but Morris's quick eye for a hidden corner and a slice of sharp composition is another. Venue His photographs simply invite us to sit back and revel in a town which, through his lens at least, is a very special place. Gloucestershire Echo Shows all that is best and interesting about the Regency spa, with a caressing eye on the creamy, clean-lined architecture that so distinguishes a place promoted as the gateway to the Cotswolds. This England What this attractive and light-hearted publication does is to celebrate the precious remains, the rump indeed of this once sublimely handsome Regency town. Georgian, The

Born in Liverpool, Stephen Morris has lived and worked in Spain, Kuwait and Oman and now lives in Wimbledon and the Cotswolds. As a commercial photographer he has worked for Apple Music, Paul McCartney and numerous magazines, companies, colleges and charities. He is a feature writer for travel and arts magazines. This is his ninth book since 2001 and his first for Frances Lincoln.