Busted Flush! The Thomas Crapper Myth 'My Family's Five Generations in the Bathroom Industry'

The fourth generation of his family to run their bathroom business, Humphersons, Geoffrey Pidgeon was a key figure in the industry for more than 60 years. Amongst his many achievements, he was one of the first people to import the contemporary Italian products which transformed British bathrooms from the 1980's onwards. He also served on many important industry bodies. As well as finally despatching the myth surrounding Thomas Crapper, this book is a charming combination of family memoir and a fascinating, sometimes seamy, social history of London. Alongside serious factual information, it is full of unexpectedly high drama - with tales of stolen glory, strange goings on in London cemeteries, bitter rivalries and the never-before-told story of Winston Churchill's bathroom and a piece of chewing gum. Beautifully illustrated with drawings and photographs, his tour of bathroom evolution also includes commentary on some of the weirder side-lines and digressions of sanitation. Essentially though, it is the story of a remarkable bathroom dynasty, spanning the generations from the technical revolution started by Frederick Humpherson to Geoffrey and his three sons' own legacy of change. Geoffrey Pidgeon was stationed at Bletchley Park from 1943 - 46 and he is also the author of the hugely successful book 'The Secret Wireless War'.