Navvies

Coleman, Terry
The railway navvies: a history of the men who made the railways. London: Hutchinson, 1965.
Includes written sketches of Locke, Peto and Brassey

Patrick MacGill wrote about his experiences in Children of the Dead End: the autobiography of a navvy:

History's most dangerous job: navvies. Anthony Burton. History Press. AB ****

"Summative work encapsulating many years of writing and research"; "a valuable social document"