Unlock the power of your olfactory senses with Robert Muchembled's groundbreaking book, focusing on the often-overlooked importance of smell in human history and culture. 'Smells' (ISBN: 9781509536788) is a compelling exploration that revives our understanding of scent, tracing its significance from the Renaissance to the 19th century. In an age dominated by the pursuit of odorless environments, this book challenges us to reconsider our relationship with smell and its emotional, cultural, and historical ramifications.

Spanning 260 pages, this BRAND NEW publication by John Wiley & Sons (UK) details how smells influenced life, love, and society, reflecting deep-seated beliefs and practices. Delve into a time when towns were engulfed by overwhelming odors, and the very essence of humanity was intertwined with the scents of everyday life, including body odors and the unmistakable scent of excrement. Muchembled argues that these once-cherished aromas shaped eroticism and sexuality, revealing the intimate connections between smell and societal norms.

Discover how the medical explanations of plagues shifted, leading to an olfactory revolution that replaced appalling scents with floral and fruity delights. Fascinate yourself with this historical narrative that illuminates why the sense of smell deserves to be celebrated, not suppressed.

Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.

Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.

Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9781509536788
Year: 2020
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (UK)
Pages: 260


Description:
Why is our sense of smell so under-appreciated?  We tend to think of smell as a vestigial remnant of our pre-human past, doomed to gradual extinction, and we go to great lengths to eliminate smells from our environment, suppressing body odour, bad breath and other smells Living in a relatively odour-free environment has numbed us to the importance that smells have always had in human history and culture. In this major new book Robert Muchembled restores smell to its rightful place as one of our most important senses and examines the transformation of smells in the West from the Renaissance to the beginning of the 19th century He shows that in earlier centuries, the air in towns and cities was often saturated with nauseating emissions and dangerous pollution Having little choice but to see and smell faeces and urine on a daily basis, people showed little revulsion; until the 1620s, literature and poetry delighted in excreta which now disgust us. The smell of excrement and body odours were formative aspects of eroticism and sexuality, for the social elite and the popular classes alike At the same time, medicine explained outbreaks of plague by Satan's poisonous breath corrupting the air Amber, musk and civet came to be seen as vital bulwarks against the devil's breath: scents were worn like armour against the plague The disappearance of the plague after 1720 and the sharp decline in fear of the devil meant there was no longer any point in using perfumes to fight the forces of evil, paving the way for the olfactory revolution of the 18th century when softer, sweeter perfumes, often with floral and fruity scents, ca