The American Spa is Dee Brown's chronicle of the whirlwind past of Arkansas' favorite playground, Hot Springs. Brown's anecdotal history of this colorful community carries the reader from the days of DeSoto and the other early explorers and settlers, through the Gay Nineties and the gambling era to the lush and popular National Park of today. Drawing on his personal experiences, first-hand accounts and the historical research of the past half-century, Brown has reconstructed a lively jaunt through the history of Hot Springs - that will leave even life-long residents with knowledge of people and events previously unknown to them. Researched from archives, previous histories and private sources, the illustrations compiled here are the most comprehensive collection of Hot Springs art ever assembled. Many of the photographs have never before been published.