Stories
- In pictures
The smell of saintliness
It’s the tenth century and your local ascetic has died. Remarkably, his body emits a sweet, pleasant smell, and fragrant oils instead of foul liquids and odours. Read on to find out how this could be.
- Book extract
My important, ridiculous nose
The nose is a much-maligned appendage, but it’s a powerful organ capable of invoking powerful emotions from past memories and sexual attraction.
- In pictures
Deadly stinks and life-saving aromas in plague-stricken London
In the plague-ravaged London of 1665, could perfume really save your life?
- Book extract
Naked, not nude
Classicist Caroline Vout argues that it’s time to take the dust covers off the Ancient Greeks and Romans, and to encounter their bodies not nude, but naked.