I have been fascinated by the television contributions of Dan Snow and his father ever since Battlefield Britain, and consider them to be among the finest historical documentaries I have ever seen. History for me is about the experience from the viewpoint of those who lived through the times represented. It is often difficult to picture the world during these times. The Snows understand this desire and along with the show's developers have consistently provided the viewer with a front row seat to history, with special emphasis on the viewpoint of the commoner during these times.
The excellence continues with Filthy Cities. In this show the audience is taken on a tour of the nasty underbelly of some of the worlds greatest cities from varied periods in history - medieval London, 18th Century Paris, and 19th Century New York. We experience the sights, sounds, thrall, and particularly the smells of these cities in the time periods depicted. The focus of the show is firmly in the management (or lack) of the tremendous waste streams such urban metropolises create, from human waste, to garbage, to industrial pollutants in addition to the inevitable outbreaks of disease and death which followed. It paints a no doubt highly accurate picture of the tremendously unsanitary conditions of these cities, and what engineers, rulers, and the populace at large attempted to do about the problem.
I have a scant few criticisms for the show. Sometimes it does seem like they try a bit too hard to gross out the audience. Yet these things that few in a modern industrial society need to deal with were a daily routine for the people of yesteryear. The smells and nature of filth were an inescapable reality for the populace, even the upper crust of society.
I sincerely hope that more episodes will be forthcoming, perhaps a glimpse of Ancient Rome or Athens, or Asian cities like Bejing or Edo. If you have an interest in history, especially with the aforementioned desire to picture places as they very well may have appeared, then you should not miss this outstanding program.
