The World of Child Labor: A Historical and Regional Survey

This global examination of the historical and contemporary problem of the abuse of children in the workplace is an outstanding work. The editor is a professor of labor and human resources and previously wrote Child Labor: An American History (Sharpe, 2002).

A well-qualified editorial board and 190 authors of the 222 original essays have contributed to a clearly arranged, accessible book. The work begins with a series of essays presented in four sections: "Understanding Child Labor," "More Developed Regions of the World," "Less Developed Regions of the World," and "Action Against Child Labor." These sections are followed by treatments arranged by continent and country. Coverage of individual countries ranges from a page containing a map and some statistics to a single thematic essay (for example, "Child Labor in Honduras," "Child Soldiers in Myanmar") to a series of essays. There are 11 essays for India and 13 essays for the U.S. Very helpful current references and suggestions for further reading are at the end of each entry. Black-and-white photos, tables, and charts aid in understanding the topic. The large index is accurate. This scholarly resource is unique among books on the subject and will be very useful in large public and academic libraries.