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Land a Viking longship on island shores,

scramble over the dunes of ancient Egypt

and avoid the Poisoners' Cup in Renaissance Florence.

Each week on Echoes of History,

we uncover the epic stories that inspire Assassin's Creed. Listen to Echoes of History,

a Ubisoft podcast brought to you by History Hits. There are new episodes every week. Pushkin.

Pushkin.

The wind is fierce, no doubt about it.

It's the strongest gale that John Watt can remember, and he's been working for the North

British Railway since 1867, a full 12 years.

It's a good night to be safely sheltered in the railway signal cabin, sharing a mug of tea

with a friend, signalman Thomas

Barkley. As Watt and Barclay sit their tea and look out of the window into the darkness,

it can see the faint line of lamps all along the new railway bridge, running almost two miles across the wide River Tay to the

city of Dundee. Every now and then, the clouds gust apart, and the full moon picks out the high

girders of the longest bridge in the world. A few minutes after seven o'clock comes the signal from the south.

The northbound train is approaching. Thomas Barclay steps out of the cabin, into the wind,

and waits as the train approaches, the sparks from the wheels visible in the dark.

He greets the crew with a smile, handing over the baton that gives permission for a train to cross the bridge.

The train is moving at walking pace. He sees a child peer out of the window of a carriage as it passes.

Then, as the train puffs off over the long, high iron span,

...