An Underground Guide to Sewers: or: Down Through and Out in Paris London New

Lose yourself in the vast sewer networks that lie beneath the world s great cities past and present. Let detailed archival plans, maps and photographs guide you through these subterranean labyrinths previously accessible only to their builders, engineers and, perhaps, the odd rogue explorer. This execrable exploration traces the evolution of waste management from the ingenious infra-structures of the ancient world to the seeping cesspits and festering open sewers of the medieval period. It investigates and celebrates the work of the civil engineers whose pioneering integrated sewer systems brought to a close the devastating cholera epidemics of the mid-19th century and continue to serve a vastly increased population today. And let s not forget those giant fatbergs clogging our underground arteries, or the storm-surge super-structures of tomorrow.

Table of Contents

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


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

Superb ... [a] beautiful book (that s right an illustrated guide to the world s sewage systems can be beautiful) ... unexpectedly gripping --The Spectator

Fascinating --Creative Review