Bum Fodder

Humans are, along with other primates, the only animals to wipe their bottoms after defecating. Richard Smyth provides the definitive history of how we have wiped over the centuries. From the Romans and ancient China to the modern day, drawing on literature from Rabelais and Jonathan Swift to the story of Myleene Klass and Pope Benedict’s toilet roll, Richard Smyth has compiled the definitive history. Along the way, Richard Smyth also provides fascinating stories such as how toilet paper became a rallying cry for anti-taxation campaigners in the US to the history of the Groom of the Stool, once one of the most influential positions in the Royal Court.