Astonishing And Extinct Professions

A most surprising book about why people did things no one should ever do 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 of the lazy ornamental hermits. Marvel at Germany's feared coffee detectives and London's dreaded executioners. The stories behind these more than 100 extinct professions open gateways to the secrets of the past: Why did we need whipping boys? Why were people paid to collect leeches on their legs? How did people wake up on time before they had alarm clocks? And what were tower watchmen watching for?