THE THAMES RAN FOUL: A SUMMER OF FILTH, 1858

The city of London sought in the heat of summer, 1858. But it was not merely the sun that parched the metropolis. An even more unpleasant force infested its very heart: the River Thames. Years of industrial discharges had transformed London's lifeblood into a stench. The stench was overwhelming, a miasma that clung to every cobblestone and saturate

The year 845 AD. A chill wind blasted across the Seine River, carrying with it the scent of salt and fear. The Norsemen were upon us, a ravenous swarm of warriors seeking riches. Their longships, like serpents, sliced through the waters, their standards billowing in the wind. A city once peaceful now trembled beneath the menace of the coming storm.