The Book of the Bath by Françoise de Bonneville

A good hot bath is one of the most sensual pleasures in life. More than a matter of cleanliness, it holds a mirror up to the prevailing culture - a social activity at the Roman baths, an act of purification in the Oriental hammam, contemplative in the Japanese furo and restorative in the Scandinavian sauna. Revealing the secrets of bathrooms from the hedonistic and Epicurean world of the Roman thermae to the simmering warmth of the medieval bathhouses, from the 19th-century cabinet de toilette in its disguise as a boudoir to the comfort and technological efficiency of the modern bathroom, 'The Book of the Bath' is an exceptionally well-documented and beautifully illustrated account of bathing through the ages.