ENGLISH

Clean: an unsanitized history of washing

By Katherine , Ashenburg

Book information

Publisher
Profile Books
Year
2009
ISBN
9781846681011, 1846681014
Language
english
Format
EPUB
Filesize
6 MB (6369282 bytes)
Edition
Paperback ed
Pages
358 Seiten : Illustrationen\0
Time added
2020-07-26 19:24:52
Geschichte;Körperpflege;Körperpflege

Description

I return to Paris in five days. Stop washing.' So wrote Napoleon to Josephine in an age when body odour was considered an aphrodisiac. In stark contrast, the Romans used to bath for hours each day. Ashenburg's investigation of history's ambivalence towards personal hygiene takes her through plague-ridden streets, hospitals and battlefields. From the bizarre prescriptions of doctors to the eccentricities of famous bathers, she presents us with all the twists and turns that have led us to our own, arbitrary notion of 'clean'.

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