Modern life is often described as an iron cage from which there is no escape. But popular culture venerates leisure and travel as authentic escape routes from routine and monotony. However what kind of escape is tolerated in modern society? How is it shaped by historical expectations of leisure and travel? And what do we actually experience when we engage in leisure or travel activity? This fascinating and accomplished book tries to supply answers to these questions. A major scholarly contribution to the sociological analysis of leisure, pleasure and travel, Dr Rojek's study is a radical challenge to the existing paradigmatic orthodoxy. Bryan S. Turner, University of Essex.