CLEAN AND DECENT (281 pp.)Lawrence WrightViking ($4.95).
King John, signer (under duress) of Magna Carta, bathed once every three weeks. Queen Elizabeth, born 317 years after his death, scrubbed herself only once a month, "whether she needed it or no." Thus it may be seen that the history of the human race's sanitary habits is by no means an unchecked upward gush. British Expert Wrightan architect, not a plumbercharts the flow with scholarship, wit, and handsome illustrations ; the resulting volume is better bathtub reading than most recent novels.
It is the Americans, of course, who are accused of being obsessed with cleanliness...
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