Exploring the rich history of London, one often comes across the opinion that the city centre quite literally stands upon the dead. Wherever you walk, wherever you pause, the likelihood that you occupy the very spot of some forgotten plague pit, an unmarked grave of a prostitute, or some other ghastly site of execution, is…
The Great Plague of 1665 was preceded by unsettling portents that lent it a mysterious, almost otherworldly character. In December 1664, a comet appeared in the night sky, deemed profoundly ominous by scholars and astrologers alike. The conjunction of Mars and Saturn in November was interpreted as a harbinger of war, pestilence, and famine. The…
The history of Soho is marked by stark contrasts. Before cholera and poverty left their indelible mark on the district, the area had already undergone a long and turbulent transformation. In the seventeenth century it was an enclave of aristocracy on the city’s fringes, home to more than a hundred noble families living in luxury…
