The railway navvy: "that despicable race of men"

by David Brooke

216 pages, Hardcover

First published November 24, 1983

Reviews

[Michael Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book that gives an honest account of the work and lives of the Railway Navvy. Those formidable men who's manual labours were responsible for some of the greatest engineering achievements in transport history.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's clear the British ruling class had an deep interest in maintaining a class of laborers who were susceptible to seeking employment in harsh, degrading and dangerous conditions due to their vulnerability to unemployment and the evils that accompanied it (food insecurity, homelessness, etc). The amount of manual labor required to build the world's railways (and before that, the canals) is just staggering.