In 1851 there were over one million servants in Britain, making domestic service the second largest occupational group after agriculture. The range of people who kept servants was vast, from aristocrats to the lower middle class families who employed a single 'maid of all work'. This book covers the whole range of domestic service in the nineteenth century, describing the work and conditions of servants and giving an insight into the strict social hierarchy, which was strong 'below stairs' as above.