The original edition of the Last Resort was published by Promenade Press as a softback in 1986. This version was published by Dewi Lewis as a hardback in 1998 and reprinted again in 2002.

This first colour publication by Parr is described by some as cruel and voyeuristic, and by others as a stunning satire on the state of Britain. It established him as one of the Europe’s most influential and admired photographers and contributed to the development of a new colour documentary photography in the UK.