The great stink of london book

Nov 22, 2014 the great stink, sometimes called the big stink, was a time in the summer of 1858 during which the smell of untreated human waste and effluent from other activities was very strong in central london. The great stink a bit hard to get into, but once in, it was even more difficult to get out and put it down. When he secures a job transforming the citys sewer system, he believes it will prove his salvation, as, in the subterranean world beneath the city, he begins to lay his ghosts to rest. The name, the great stink, was coined in the press after queen victoria and prince albert tried to. Clare clarks critically acclaimed the great stink reeks of talent the washington post book world as it vividly brings to life the dark and mysterious underworld of victorian london. We meet our blue badge guide in the city for morning refreshments, we trace londons lost rivers, tell the story of the great stink and show you how victorian engineer sir josephs bazalgette achieved one of the most remarkable. The crisis came to a peak in the great stink of london in 1858. London literally stank in the summer of 1858 just ask. The main characters are william may, a sewer engineer suffering from shell shock brought on by combat in the crimean war, and long arm tom, who prowls the sewers for profit with his wonderful dog, lady. Clare clarks first book is a rich and suspenseful novel that draws the reader right into victorian london and into the worlds of its characters desperately attempting to swim the tides of change. The great engineer entrusted by parliament with this enormous task was sir joseph bazalgette. How the great stink terrorized london and changed world history. Between 1800 and 1850, the amount of waste that these sewers dumped into the river greatly increased as the citys population more than doubled, while the installation of flushable toilets in the city further increased.

It is 1855, and engineer william may has returned home to london and his beloved wife from the horrors of the crimean war. Feb 15, 2001 the times called the crisis the great stink. Excrement happens in this impressively researched first novel, which earned its london author an orange fiction prize nomination. How joseph bazalgette solved london s poop pollution problem tells the story of when london s thames river became overpolluted with human waste and how engineer joseph bazalgette cleaned it up, and saved lives, by building one of the worlds first modern sewer systems. In the summer of 1858, londoners found themselves in the middle of a big stinking problem.

Such was the overpowering smell from the thames, that the curtains of the commons were soaked in chloride of lime in a vain. Interspersing the narratives of the two men, the great stink takes us on a fascinating aboveground tour of londons corrupt bureaucracies, raucous taverns and overcrowded tenements, by way of the labyrinthine underworld that connects them all. There were three outbreaks of cholera before the great. As surprising as it may sound, the city of london once suffered from the problem of an inefficient sewer system. A tale of murder and deceit set in europes most legendary city, the great stink takes readers inside a littleknown chapter of victorian history.

The suspense and the smells get you from the first page. In 1855, the great scientist michael faraday wrote in a letter to the times my ellipses. Clark sets her darkly confrontational story in mid1850s london, where william may, a severely traumatized. A vivid account of the life and work of sir joseph bazalgette, the engineer who designed and built the system of intercepting sewers, pumping stations and. Read great stink of london sir joseph bazalgette and the cleansing of the victorian metropolis by stephen halliday available from rakuten kobo. Scarred and fragile though he is, he lands a job at the heart of bazalgettes transformation of the london sewers. How the great stink terrorized london and changed world.

Interspersing the narratives of the two men, the great stink takes us on a fascinating aboveground tour of london s corrupt bureaucracies, raucous taverns and overcrowded tenements, by way of the labyrinthine underworld that connects them all. I traversed this day by steamboat the space between london and hangerford bridgesthe appearance and the smell of the water forced themselves at once on my attention. Recalled to london by an officer who remembers him from the front, may is hired to help with the rebuilding project of the london sewers, a huge and expensive undertaking, his prospects changed radically for the better. Such was the overpowering smell from the thames, that the curtains of the commons were soaked in. Standing close to the river was enough to make you retch. While the title implies the book s focus will be londons great stink of 1858, it is in fact a short biography of the eminent victorian civil engineer sir joseph bazalgette. Clarks debut, winner of the washington posts book of the year award, introduces civil engineer william may recently returned from the horrors of the crimean war to undertake the task of mapping the underground sewer system of midvictorian london. The great stink, sometimes called the big stink, was a time in the summer of 1858 during which the smell of untreated human waste and effluent from other activities was very strong in central london. London came to a complete halt in the summer of 1858 due to the infamous great stink. The stench prompted london authorities to accept a sewerage scheme proposed by joseph bazalgette, implemented during the 1860s. With its unflinching detail, the great stink is a timely reminder of the critical skeleton of a city, the framework for civilization, where opportunity offers freedom from a life of discontent and distorted appetites too easily attained. Oct 08, 2018 london came to a complete halt in the summer of 1858 due to the infamous great stink. London boasted of brick sewers that had existed since the dawn of the 17th century.

How joseph bazalgette solved londons poop pollution problem tells the story of when londons thames river became overpolluted with human waste and how engineer joseph bazalgette cleaned it up, and saved lives, by building one of the worlds first modern sewer systems. His plan included creating smaller, local sewers that would feed into larger sewers. Clare clarks critically acclaimed the great stink reeks of talent as it vividly brings to life the dark and mysterious underworld of. The great stink was an event in central london in july and august 1858 during which the hot weather exacerbated the smell of untreated human waste and industrial effluent that was present on the banks of the river thames. A vivid account of the life and work of sir joseph bazalgette, the engineer who designed and built the system of intercepting sewers, pumping stations and treatment works that cleaned up victorian london. The great stink is an atmospherically rich thriller which takes place in the fetid depths of londons sewer system in 1855, when the great stink, brought about by an oppressive heat wave and. Bbc history londons great stink and victorian urban. By the 1850s, london was the largest city on the planet, with a rapidly growing population that had already topped 2.

A smelly situation londons great stink of 1858 sporcle blog. Great stink simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In the sweltering summer of 1858 the stink of sewage from the polluted thames was so offensive that it drove members of parliament from the chamber of the. Clare clarks critically acclaimed the great stink reeks of talent as it vividly brings to. Less remembered than his fellow engineers isambard brunel or robert stephenson, bazalgette was the chief engineer of londons metropolitan board of works for some 30 years. Nov 12, 2018 standing close to the river was enough to make you retch. The great stink was an event in central london in july and august 1858 during which the hot weather exacerbated the smell of untreated human waste and. Four years earlier, john snow, one of the fathers of modern epidemiology, while investigating the cholera epidemic of soho in 1854, correctly deduced that the cause of the disease was contaminated water. During hot weather the smell of untreated faeces was overpowering it was caused by untreated human waste in the river thames, and on its banks. An ageing and inadequate sewer system emptied directly into the thames. William may returns to london after the horrors of the crimean war. The problems with the river were decades in the making but by 1858 the mucky effluence was roughly 9 feet high in some sections, the water was completely opaque, and you could light it on fire.

An ageing and inadequate sewer system emptied directly into the thames the bad air was thought to transmit contagious diseases. Parliament had to act drastic measures were required to clean the thames and to improve london s primitive system of sanitation. Thankfully, even before the great stink wreaked havoc on the nostrils of londoners, a plan to revamp the citys sewers was already coming to fruition. Oct 01, 2005 excrement happens in this impressively researched first novel, which earned its london author an orange fiction prize nomination. Punch magazine wikimedia commons the silent highwayman. The river thames was always londons main water supply, but by the 1800s it was basically londons biggest toilet and it stank. Combining riveting fact with imaginative fiction, the author brings to heady olfactory life the. The great engineer entrusted by parliament with this enormous task was sir joseph bazalgette, and this book is a fascinating account of his life and work.

Dickens, darwin and disraeli, and the great stink of 1858 is oublished by yale. A very interesting look into the deeper parts of victorian london, the great stinking sewers and from here to the traumatic crimea war. A unique, indepth view of victorian london during the recordbreaking summer of 1858, when residents both famous and nowforgotten endured the great stink together while 1858 in london may have been noteworthy for its broiling summer months and the related stench of the sewagefilled thames river, the year is otherwise little remembered. The great stink was in central london in july and august 1858. In the sweltering summer of 1858 the stink of sewage from. Parliament had to act drastic measures were required to clean the thames and to improve londons primitive system of sanitation. Jul 14, 2017 the great stink therefore greatly alarmed the population. While the title implies the books focus will be londons great stink of 1858, it is in fact a short biography of the eminent victorian civil engineer sir joseph bazalgette. Clare clarks first novel opens much like saturday night fever, sketching a young mans character by. According to the only book i currently have on my desk, everyone poops and thats okay. Great book a whole new take on the historical great stink in london in 1858 by a writer i didnt even know. Jan 18, 2018 that summer the great stink of london ruled the town. Londoners may feel hot this summer, but historian rosemary ashton says its nothing compared to what the city endured in 1858.

In 1858 the long hot summer turned into the great stink with the thames being little more than an open sewer. Set in 1855, it tells the story of william may, an engineer who has returned home to london from the horrors of the crimean war. In 1858, a powerful stench terrorized london for two months. Streets were filthy and cholera was rife, with thousands dying from the disease. The problem had been mounting for some years, with an ageing and inadequate sewer system that emptied directly into the thames.

Its a fauxvictorian melodrama, akin to such recent successes as michel fabers the crimson petal and the white and sarah waterss fingersmith. The sour smell of success by professor martin daunton cholera epidemics, the great stink and miasmas combined to create a death rate higher than at any time since the black death forcing reformers to face up to the need for an urban planning policy for the first time. Whats more, writing to a friend who lived outside of the capital, dickens said. Famously, charles dickens noted in his bestselling book little dorrit published between 1855 and 1857, right before the great stink that the thames was a deadly sewerin the place of a fine, fresh river. It was caused by untreated human waste in the river thames, and on its banks. That summer the great stink of london ruled the town.

In the sweltering summer of 1858 the stink of sewage from the polluted thames was so offensive that it drove members of. Assistant surveyor joseph bazalgette had completed plans in june, 1856, to improve the sewer system in london. The great stink by clare clark meet your next favorite book. The source of whats now known as the great stink was the river thames, into which the citys sewers emptied.

Beneath the streets of london, where sewers sprawl for miles and infested tunnels stoke raging epidemics, engineer william may goes to work. The whole of the river was an opaque pale brown fluid. The great stink in 1858, the city of london experienced one of the hottest summers anyone alive during this time could recall. Dec 07, 2017 london s great stink of 1858 didnt merely cause nausea citywide, it led to worldchanging developments in science and engineering. Parliament had to act drastic measures were required to clean the thames and to improve londons primitive. Sir joseph bazalgette and the cleansing of the victorian metropolis ebook. The great stink is a mystery novel set in victorian london. The great stink of london by stephen halliday, 9780750919753, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. This book takes it title from the failure of londons great and good to take any interest in what happened to the contents of their chamber pots once they had been sleuced into thames tribuatories and how hot summers began to bring them nausea inducing reminders as a tidle wave of festering sludge. Normally, people would continue about their lives as usual, albeit in a bit more discomfort. The great stink is one of those books that immediately grabbed my attention.