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 the year of our Lord eight hundred and forty-five AD. A chill wind whistled across the Seine River, carrying with it the scent of salt and fear. The Norsemen were upon us, a stormy swarm of warriors seeking plunder. Their longships, like wolves, sliced through the waters, their flags waving in the wind. A city once proud now trembled benea