Alice Loxton uncovers the thrilling transformation of Edinburgh, a city which was once the most overcrowded, dangerous and pungent cities in the whole of Europe, where tottering medieval tenement blocks were surrounded by a bubbling cesspit of raw sewage. With the city bursting at its seams - and on the brink of crisis - it took a staggering boldness of vision to build the “New Town”, one of the greatest urban developments the world has ever seen. From this gem of Georgian architecture, Edinburgh was reborn as “The Athens of the North”.