Table of Contents

Foreword by Sir Peter Bazalgette • Prelude: Cholera in the City • 1. Pioneers of Plumbing: I. Sanitation in the Ancient World; II. Sewage in the Streets • 2. Subterranean Infrastructures: I. The Cleansing of Paris; II. London & the Great Stink; III. Worldwide Adaptations; IV. Raising Streets • 3. Revolutions of Purity

Promotional Information

A quirky yet hugely informative global guide to the magnificently designed and engineered structures that lie deep underground beneath our feet.

About the Author

Stephen Halliday is a specialist in industrial history and the author of a number of books, including Water: A Turbulent History, Amazing and Extraordinary London Underground Facts and The Great Stink: Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the Cleansing of the Victorian Metropolis. He regularly lectures at Cambridge University and presented with Michael Buerk the Channel 5 programme 'What the Victorians Did for Us'. Sir Peter Bazalgette is the great-great-grandson of Victorian civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the former head of both ITV and the Arts Council of England.

Reviews

'Written by historian and broadcaster Stephen Halliday, it achieves the unlikely feat of engaging readers for more than 250 pages on all aspects of human waste and water disposal and, in particular, the often-impressive infrastructure created to deal with the age-old problem of sewage. It’s no mean feat, helped by a lively style and excellent maps, drawings and archive photography ' - RIBA Journal

'Fascinating' - Creative Review

'A call to ordure … takes a deep dive into the insalubrious shitshows of the ancient world and the subterranean infrastructure of cities' - World of Interiors

'Extraordinary' - Arquitectura Viva