No building better embodies the ineffable qualities of rural France than the lavoir, the communal washhouse that, until a few decades ago, was the central gathe

How often did our ancestors bathe? How often did they wash their clothes and change them? What did they understand cleanliness to be? Why have our hygienic habi

In this journey of discovery, John Micklewright travels the slow way, on foot, on paths, tracks and byways from the Channel to the Alps – from the coast of No

This book examines how, over the past 300 years or so, women have adapted their work methods, means of subsistence and daily routine to fulfil their dual role a