"Throughout many periods of history--perhaps most--it can seem as if the whole impulse of fashion has been to look maximally ridiculous. If one could be maximally uncomfortable as well, the triumph was all the greater." So begins Mr. Bryson's discourse about the silly and uncomfortable fashion of men's wigs during a period of England's history.
This is a witty and wonderful story of predominantly English homes and the people who lived in them loosely from the 1500's to mid-1800's. It is chock-full of fun facts and the origin of such common words as cabinet and chignon, among many others. I always knew history was important, but this writer makes learning about how our forbears lived truly enjoyable.