SCARBOROUGH has been a mecca for visitors for centuries - some more welcome than others.

Today, its beaches, hotels, amusement arcades and attractions pull in holiday makers looking for some seaside fun.

Turn back in time, though, and the tourists were of a more hostile variety.

The Romans established a signal station in the North Yorkshire coastal town in AD 370 - a square tower in a square courtyard. The aim was to give protection against Anglo-Saxon pirates from south Jutland.

This is where Paul Chrystal's pictorial history of Scarborough begins, with an etching of Romans at their signal station and paintings of Vikings, who sacked Scarborough (or Skarthborg or Skarthabork) in AD 966.

Chrystal, who lives near York, is the author of more than 25 books. In his latest, Changing Scarborough (Fonthill, £14.99), he reveals how the town's history has been shaped through a selection of photographs covering its swaying fortunes in the civil war, through to its emergence as a spa spot and tourist destination.

Scarborough's darkest hours are also vividly documented. An entire chapter is given over to "Scarborough's Disasters", from the destruction of the North Promenade Pier by a storm in 1905 to its bombardment by the German fleet on December 16, 1914, which killed 18 people.

Chrystal also manages to shine his torch into the some of Scarborough's less known historical corners.

Did you know that Ann Bronte is buried in the graveyard at St Mary's Church? Or that the folk song Scarborough Fair refers to the 45-day-long trade festival that attracted merchants from across Europe and the Byzantine empire which was first given a royal charter in 1253?

Chrystal also has something for art lovers, particularly of the Pre-Raphaelite era. William Morris' company was commissioned to do most of the stained glass and decoration in the St Martin-on-the-Hill church, which was built in 1862.

There are some evocative images of fishing folk at work - in the past and today. A highlight is a shot of a giant tuna raised high by its tail, guarded by men proudly showing off their trophy.

Chrystal completes the 96-page book with a chapter on entertainment, documenting the changing face of leisure life in the town. Colourful posters are reproduced on fairs and pageants as well as the Open Air Theatre, which was the largest in Europe and had a football-pitch-sized stage on an island in the middle of a lake with seating for almost 6,000 people. It opened in 1932 and closed in 1986.