A unique account of the hidden history of servants and their employers in late eighteenth-century England.

Carolyn Steedman is Professor of History at the University of Warwick. Her previous publications include Master and Servant: Love and Labour in the English Industrial Age (2007) and Dust (2001).

Prologue: the servant's dream; 1. Introduction: a new view of society; 2. Servants numberless: theories of labour and property; 3. Frances Hamilton's labour; Necessity: 4. Lord Mansfield's women; 5. In a free state; Horses: 6. The law of everyday life; 7. Policing society; servant-stories: 8. Servants and childcare: Ann Mead's murder; 9. Food for thought; 10. An ode on a dishclout; 11. A servant's wages; Stays: 12. Conclusion: the needs of things.