All was quiet in the Bodle home in Plumstead village on the morning of 2 November 1833. In the large ten bedroom farmhouse, the maid Sophia Taylor began preparing breakfast while, at the cottage down the track, Mary Higgins came down to set the fire. But all was not as it seemed that morning...When [...]

In 1831, Cholera swept from Asia across Continental Europe, killing millions and throwing the medical profession into confusion. John Snow worked out that cholera spreads through drinking water. Drawing on 19th century medical, political and personal records, this book presents various diversions in[...]