The Dreadful Judgement

A fire needs only three things: a spark to ignite it, and fuel and oxygen to feed it.

September 1666. A ten-month drought had turned London into a tinderbox. The older parts of the city were almost entirely composed of wood-frame buildings and shacks made of little more than paper. The riverside warehouses were stacked with wood and coal. The fuel was already in place.

A fierce gale provided the oxy...