Great read...
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I finished reading this excellent book yesterday. I was slightly dubious about it at first, with the subject matter being what it was, but far from it being an out and out grime-fest it proved to be an insightful and well written social history of the very late Tudor and Stuart periods.
The text gives you a really good impression of wha life must have been like for 'ordinary' folks in these times and all the grisly, dirty and unhygienic things they were exposed to.
There is reliance on the work of Diarists and Social Commentators of the time and they prove to be helpful and amusing.
Thomas Tyron in particular stood out to me as a particular joy - with his neurotic and obsessive ideas (but in actual fact they turn out to be rather forward thinking with hindsight).
I can't really find any fault with this book at all, and I was very sad to have finished it. I think it would be excellent for anyone studying the period in history, or indeed, for anyone with a passing fascination for matters of grime and hygiene! Well worth a read.
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