The Worst Children's Jobs in History - Tapa dura

The Worst Jobs in History takes you back to the days when being a kid was no excuse for getting out of hard labour. This book tells the stories of all the children whose work fed the nation, kept trains running, and put clothes on everyone's backs, over the last few hundred years of Britain's history. No longer will you have to listen to your parents, grandparents, uncles, neighbours, and random old people in the Co-op telling you how much harder they had it in their young day. Next time you find yourself in that situation, ask them if they were a jigger-turner or a turnip-picker in their young day. No? An orderly boy, perhaps? A stepper? Maybe they spent their weekends making matchboxes? Still no? Then they have no idea about the real meaning of hard work. Tony Robinson takes you on a guided tour through all the lousiest places for a kid to work. With profiles and testimonies of real kids in rotten jobs, this book will tell you things you probably didn't want to know about the back-breaking, puke-inducing bits of being a child in the past.

Tony Robinson has written many books on historical subjects, including Tony Robinson's Kings and Queens and The Worst Jobs in History. He has written several television series for children including Maid Marion and Her Merry Men for which he received a BAFTA and a Royal Television Award. He presents's Channel 4's archaeology series Time Team, and played Baldrick in Blackadder.