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 repellent force infested its very heart: the River Thames. Years of industrial engineering feats discharges had transformed London's lifeblood into a foul-smelling mire. The stench was all-consuming, a miasma that clung

The year the year of our Lord eight hundred and forty-five AD. A chill wind swept across the Seine River, carrying with it the scent emanating from salt and fear. The Norsemen had arrived, a horde swarm of warriors seeking plunder. Their longships, like serpents, sliced through the waters, their flags waving in the wind. A city once confident now t