Poop matters -- Bad plumbing? Bad news -- The origin of feces -- An ionic twist: poor plumbing in ancient Greece -- When in Rome, poo as the Romans do -- The age of shovelry: poop in the Middle Ages -- The reeking Renaissance -- I smell London, I smell France -- All dressed up but nowhere to go -- Eighteenth-century England: flushing away troubles -- The early 1800s: the great unwashed move to town -- Vileness in the Victorian era -- Cholera: the disease that changed the world -- The revolting river -- The age of plumbers -- Sludge, American style -- Modern sanitation -- Toilet talk

"Throughout the ages, the most successful civilizations were the ones who realized that everyone poops and they'd better figure out how to get rid of it! From the very first flushing toilet (invented way earlier than you would think) to the efficient Roman aqueducts (possibly inspired by the goddess of sewers!) to castles in the Middle Ages whose moats used more than just water to repel enemies, Poop happened! traces human civilization through this revolting yet fascinating theme."--Book jacket