History's Most Dangerous Jobs: Navvies

By Anthony Burton

This is the story of the men who built Britain’s canals and railways – not the engineers and the administrators but the ones who provided the brawn and muscle. There had never been a workforce like the navvies, a great army of men, moving about the country following the work as it became available. This book will tell of their extraordinary feats of strength and their often colourful lives. They lived rough, usually having to make do with huts and shelters cobbled together from whatever materials were available. They worked hard and drank hard. Often exploited by their employers, they were always liable to erupt into riots that could have fatal results. The book will look at who these men were, where they came from – and destroy the myth that they were all Irish. It is a story full of drama, but above all one of great achievements.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Jan 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9780752481265

Anthony Burton

Anthony Burton is an author specialising in the history of technology and transport. His books for The History Press include The Anatomy of Canals, The Iron Men, Miners, Navvies, and The Workers’ War. Other books include biographies of Thomas Telford, Richard Trevithick, George and Robert Stephenson and Marc and Isambard Brunel. He has been involved in over 100 TV documentaries, half as writer/presenter and others as historical adviser, including The Past at Work for the BBC and appeared as a guest expert on Coast, Reel History and Big, Bigger, Biggest. More recently he has been Historical Adviser for six ten-part series for Discovery that have involved visiting industrial sites in both Europe and America. He lives in Stroud.