A thing of the past? child labour in Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries

Editor Michael Lavalette, Liverpool University Press, 278 pages,

paperback, £14.95

In the early 19th century children were employed at a very young age. In agriculture they worked from dawn to dusk during the winter and 16 hours a day at harvest time. But from 1833 onwards laws began to be passed prohibiting or limiting child labour.

This book consists of a series of essays exploring the changes in child labour over the past 200 years and the laws covering it from 1833 to 1994. It shows how, today, many school children are still engaged in work outside schools such as newspaper delivery and services in shops. It explores the controversies surrounding work experience for children, and brings together detailed information - both local and national - much of which has remained virtually unknown.