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In peaceable times, a medieval life had more civilized compensations than smug modern man imagines. Until the great castle halls fell into disuse, master and servant ate congenially in common. At table (regularly spread with fresh linen), two people often shared a bowl, helping themselves with fingers. But a strict etiquette governed the sharing, and hands and nails were expected to be scrupulously clean. Plumbing in the larger castles, the authors say, was better than that of 17th century Versailles: every floor had a washing area—some with running water, even baths. Latrines were often conveniently perched out over the castle moat.
The authors allow medieval man and woman to speak for themselves through selections from past journals, songs, even account books. With Gallic condescension, Peter of Blois, for example, wrote home about the wine served by King Henry II of England. It was, sneered Peter, "thick, greasy, stale, flat and smacking of pitch."
THE PROMISE OF JOY
by ALLEN DRURY 445 pages. Doubleday. $10.
Allen Drury promises this will be the last of his Advise and Consent novels. That is a mercy. The author's comicbook view of humanity and reflex cold-war xenophobia, as well as the clothespins he calls characters and hangs out on his reactionary line, have long ceased to be amusing targets. Drury, in fact, somewhat resembles those Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender in 1945 and spent 30 years with scorpions and coconuts.
History and politics are at least debatable. The Drury prose usually defies all discourse. It should be noted, however, that The Promise of Joy has nothing to do with cooking or sex. It is about a crisis during the first weeks of the presidency of Orrin Knox, whom Drury readers will remember as the Secretary of State in Advise and Consent, and a vice-presidential nominee in Capable of Honor. In this book Knox succeeds to the presidency after the assassination of Edward M. Jason, and he is called upon to decide nothing less than the fate of Western civilization. After a good deal of messy preliminaries, China and Russia go to war against each other. Atomic weapons devastate both countries, but the massive Chinese army advances despite horrendous losses. Drury describes the Chinese variously as "yellow hordes," "pagan hordes" and "mongrel hordes." Besides Knox, other holdover Drury characters taking a last bow include Secretary of State Robert Lessingwell, Commie-Symp Fred Van Ackerman, Columnist Walter Dobius and TV Commentator Frankly Unctuous.