In the sweltering summer of 1858 the stink of sewage from the polluted River Thames was so offensive that it drove Members of Parliament from the House of Commons. Engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette was chosen to change the city's outdated sanitation system. This is the story of his life and his work.

In the sweltering summer of 1858 the stink of sewage from the oulluted Thames was so offensive that it drove Members of Parliament from the chamber of the House of Commons. Sewage from over two million Londoners was carried to and fro by the tides. "The Times" called the crisis "The Great Stink". Parliament had to act - drastic measures were required to clean the Thames and to improve London's primitive system of sanitation. The engineer entrusted by Parliament with this enormous task was Sir Joseph Bazalgette, and this book is an account of his life and work. The author traces Bazalgette's origins in revolutionary France, the confusing sanitation system that he inherited from medieval and Tudor times and his battle with politicians, bureaucrats and huge engineering problems to transform the face and health of the world's largest city.