Chronicles the evolution of baths and bathing with abundant illustrations: For over 2000 years, in the Far East as in the West, bathing and showering have been more than practical necessities. Bathing has become a rite and a refuge, and this is the first book to lavish due attention on the history of the bath across the centuries and around the world. Although the room for bathing as we know it has existed for only a century, public baths wee institution in ancient cultures; and, of course, beginning n the Renaissance, bathing was not just hygienic, but a sensual and sybaritic event. In The Book of the Bath, abundant illustrations- from Byzantine frescoes and Orientalist paintings of harems to photographs by Robert Doisneau and engravings from old fixtures catalogs-chronicle the evolution of baths, bathing, and its many accoutrements. Enticing contemporary photography shows baths in the Middle East and Japan, saunas in Sweden, and the often luxurious private bathrooms of the West. At a time when the bath and its associated therapies-thermal springs, scented oils, massages, and soaps-have become a crucial part of sensual and healthy living. The Book of the Bath offers a luxurious pictorial history to inspire the mind and soothe the senses.