THE THAMES RAN FOUL: 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 discharges had transformed London's lifeblood into a nauseating odor. The stench was oppressive, a miasma that clung to every cobblestone an

The year 845 AD. A chill wind whistled across the Seine River, carrying with it the scent emanating from salt and fear. The Norsemen had arrived, a ravenous swarm of warriors seeking plunder. Their longships, like prowling predators, sliced Norse Mythology through the waters, their standards billowing in the wind. A city once peaceful now trembled