This photojournalistic work is Sebastiao Salgado's archaeological document of the activities that have defined labour from the Iron Age through the Industrial Revolution to the present. He pays homage to those who do manual labour sometimes in the toughest conditions, from sulphur mines in Indonesia to tuna fishermen in Italy, from Eurotunnel workers to gold miners in Brazil. The text balances Salgado's determination to document the plight of workers with a concern to present a homage to people whose existences are becoming more threatened in our increasingly technological society.