The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History

"Brimming with lively anecdotes . . . [this] endearing history of Western cleanliness holds a welcome mirror up to our intimate selves." —Publishers Weekly

The question of cleanliness is one every age and culture has answered with confidence. For the first-century Roman, being clean meant a two-hour soak in baths of various temperatures, scraping the body with a miniature rake, and a final application of oil. For the aristocratic Frenchman in the seventeenth century, it meant changing your ...