It has been said that The history of childhood is a nightmare from which we have only recently begun to awake'. This nightmare was particularly evident on the streets of Victorian London when society was going through a massive and tumultuous change. In the nineteenth century, the population in Britain trebled from 10 million to 32 million bringing with it numerous social problems, principally poverty and attendant ill-health. Many of the victims of this upheaval were children who made up 40 per cent of the population (compared to 20 per cent now). This led to an increased focus on the role children played in society seen most famously in the writings of Charles Dickens. Indeed Charles Dickens became one of the chief supporters of the new children's hospital founded at Great Ormond St to alleviate infant suffering and death. The ensuing history of the hospital is no less intriguing and this book charts its rise to become a world famous institution, surviving the blitz, pioneering many medical procedures and saving many lives. Wonderful pictures accompany the fascinating text along with celebrity anecdotes and stories from the children themselves.