The jobs we've lost are windows into the past

Gladiators fought for glory. Ice harvesters chopped up lakes. In the USA, human computers, called rocket women, calculated the paths of the spaceships with pen and paper.

All these jobs really existed. Now they are gone. This is a book of extraordinary periods in history on six continents. It spans the centuries of the professional fartists and the walking toilets, of the brave riders of the Pony Express, and the lazy ornamental hermits. Marvel at Germany's feared coffee detectives and London's dreaded executioners.

The stories behind:

Mandarins

Wailing women

Body snatchers

Executioners

Whipping boys

Explorers

Walking toilets

Object swallowers

Fartists

Powder monkeys

Armpit-hair pluckers

And many more ...