
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
'A book which goes on a special shelf in my library.' P.G. Wodehouse
What the Butler Saw (1962) is one of E.S. Turner's most pertinent and illuminating 'social histories', an exploration of the 'upstairs/downstairs' relationship across three centuries of English life. Drawing on literature, contemporary accounts and household manuals, Turner describes in fascinating detail how it came to be that the upper classes felt a need for an ever larger household staff, engaged in every imaginable form of drudgery; and, accordingly, how those in service - from high to low, butler to footman, housemaid to au pair - had to give satisfaction to their masters and mistresses while also, on occasions, contending with physical blows, tantrums, and (in the cases of some unfortunate servant girls) threats to their virtue.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Table of Contents
- ILLUSTRATIONS
- INTRODUCTION
- I : INSUBORDINATION
- II : A MANāS JOB?
- III : THE OPEN PALM
- IV : VIRTUE IN DANGER
- V : CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
- VI : BLACK BOYS FOR SALE
- VII : BRAVE NEW WORLD
- VIII : THE WIDENING GULF
- IX : THE DUTY TO EMPLOY
- X : THE FEMALE BRANCH
- XI : THE MALE BRANCH
- XII : NO SERVANTS, ONLY HELPS
- XIII : THE DIVINE ASPECT OF DRUDGERY
- XIV : VANITY FAIR
- XV : VIRTUE STILL IN DANGER
- XVI : THE RULING TOPIC
- XVII : SPECTRE OF CHANGE
- XVIII : āTHE FINEST SPECTACLEā
- XIX : AMERICA CALLS FOR BUTLERS
- XX : āSTOP THEIR DOLE!ā
- XXI : HOME HELPSāAND FOREIGN
- AFTERWORD
- INDEX
- Copyright