The city of London sweltered 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 effluents had transformed London's lifeblood into a nauseating odor. The stench was oppressive, a miasma that clung to every cobblestone and… Read More

The year eight hundred forty-five AD. A chill wind swept across the Seine River, carrying with it the scent of salt and fear. The Norsemen had arrived, a ravenous swarm of warriors seeking glory. Their longships, like beasts of the north, sliced through the waters, their standards fluttering in the wind. A city once peaceful now trembled beneath th… Read More