Tom lives in the countryside in the mid 1800s and he's curious -- what is it like in the town, the city and the world beyond? It's all "work and more work," everyone tells him. Determined to find out for himself, Tom sets off with a bit of bread and cheese in a bundle...

He encounters crowded marketplaces, bustling wharves and storms on the high seas. In China he sees how tea is made; in India he watches men make deep blue dye from indigo; in Ceylon he marvels at the skill of cinnamon peelers. Eventually, he returns home with stories and gifts, showing his parents the riches to be found all over the world.

Includes an illustrated afterword about the different kinds of work mentioned in the story when, in the days before steam, nothing moved except through the power of wind, water and muscle.