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 baked the metropolis. An even more detestable force infested its very heart: the River Thames. Years of industrial waste had transformed London's lifeblood into a nauseating odor. The stench was oppressive, a miasma that clung to every cobblestone and saturate

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 carrying salt and fear. The Norsemen had arrived, a horde swarm of warriors seeking glory. Their longships, like wolves, sliced through the waters, their banners waving in the wind. A city once confident now trembled