Sanitation

  (out of 5 stars)

In The Dirt on Clean, Katherine Ashenburg presents a light history of baths, bathing, and the social implications of cleanliness in Western culture. A frank discussion light on science and technical detail, this pocket history is a quick read with many enjoyable historical anecdotes on the subject.

Ashenburg starts her exploration with the Ancient Greeks, a population which took bathing seriously and influenced the Romans to build technologically-advanced bath works. From there, she explores cleanliness throughout the centuries as attitudes shifted from a belief in the value of dirtiness and clogged pores to its opposite. The author reflects upon the various attitudes as told in diaries, letters, fiction, and other anecdotal writings available in each period. The modern day obsession with hygiene is put in perspective as Ashenburg demonstrates that this concept has not always held sway and that body odor was far more often expected and accepted than modern Western humans might believe.

An enjoyable romp through history, as people's shifting views in the value of being dirty or clean, as well as a light treatment of social influences surround the bathing cutlure are in store for the reader. Ashenburg is an excellent writer and weaves her stories together in a way which is quick-to-read and easy to digest. My only complaints are that I would like to have had much more information about the scientific and technical nature of the bath and its culture, as well as a more empirical, less anecdotal account. However, neither point really dampens the book's value and it need make no apology for offering the style it embraces. Fun and informative, don't take it too literally since so much appears to be anecdotal. Three and one-half stars.