A RIVER RUNS PUTRID: A SUMMER OF FILTH, 1858

The city of London breathed in the heat of summer, 1858. But it was not merely the sun that scorched the metropolis. An even more detestable force infested its very heart: the River Thames. Years of industrial effluents had transformed London's lifeblood into a foul-smelling mire. The stench was oppressive, a miasma that clung to every cobblestone

The year eight hundred forty-five AD. A chill wind swept across the Seine River, carrying with it the scent carrying salt and fear. The Norsemen had arrived, a ravenous swarm of warriors seeking plunder. Their longships, like prowling predators, sliced through the waters, their flags waving in the wind. A city once confident now trembled beneath th