Smell

The Tale of a Fading Sense

Bjørn Berge

• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Year: 2026
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781836392958
• Subtopic: Historical Theory & Criticism
• Index: History

The sense of smell is often linked to the dark, the antisocial, the primitive – the very opposite of modernity and progress. Today we live in an almost odourless world, where everything is reduced to images. Yet smell plays a vital role in how we relate to others and our surroundings, forming our experiences and our memories. Tracing a history of smell from the first ancient cities, through medieval plagues and the Industrial Revolution to the present day, this book is a tribute to the sense of smell in all its beauty and disgust. Along the way Bjørn Berge introduces us to twenty iconic scents – from blood and soil to the ocean – and invites readers to reflect on and reawaken their senses.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 The Midden: The Smell of Safety
• 2 A Feast for the Senses: The Smell of Pleasure
• 3 Heavenly Pastures: The Smell of Salvation
• 4 A Man’s World: The Smell of Condemnation
• 5 The Devil’s Breath: The Smell of Corruption
• 6 The Musk Deer: The Smell of Deception
• 7 The Liberated Gut: The Smell of Happiness
• 8 Enter the Eye-Man: The Smell of Reason
• 9 Soda and Sulphuric Acid: The Smell of Prosperity
• 10 The Sweat of the Earth: The Smell of Fear
• 11 The Cast-Iron Plant: The Smell of Class
• 12 Damp Cows and Shallow Graves: The Smell of Confusion
• 13 Alabaster Brows: The Smell of Longing
• 14 Interview with a Billy-Goat: The Smell of Denial
• 15 The Battlefield: The Smell of Insanity
• 16 Love Apples: The Smell of Lust
• 17 White Sheets: The Smell of Purity
• 18 The Blood of an Englishman: The Smell of the Unknown
• 19 Hygienic Equivalents: The Smell of Nothing
• 20 The Scent Organ: The Smell that Remains
• Afterword
• References
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgements