Book Review: The Dirt on Clean

A wonderful book full of random tidbits on the history of dirt. I had a ball reading this book--it goes from funny to gross to hilarious to jaw-dropping good fun.

The book delves right into the history of bathing. Or rather, not bathing. Back in the day, people thought washing was bad for the health and bad for the spirit. There are lots of juicy facts throughout the book. Some of my favorites: King Louis XIII of France (1600's) had his legs first washed at age 5, and had his first bath at the age of 7.

There was a time when there was no room called a "bathroom". So in the 1750's in France, it was the custom to find a stairway to urinate on. Meanwhile, feces piled up in the corridors of Versailles, to be cleaned once a week.

The author talks about the history of soap, deodorant, and bad breath...and how the idea of marketing and advertising for a product first came into play.

I also found it ironically funny that the author's last name is "Ashenburg".