Frank Victor Dawes

A fascinating and well written look at the "Upstairs, Downstairs" culture of the English domestic service during the years 1850 to 1939.

the author uses historical references, anecdotes from the time as well as correspondence with surviving members of the serving class of the time to bring to life what it was like to live and work in those times.

It's a way of life I don't think anyone in our times or culture can fully understand. Servants lived and worked in conditions appalling close to show more slavery, were treated as a separate species almost, not fully human, and yet they were better off than many of their contemporaries and many found a level of dignity and even social standing among their peers with their own pecking order and status levels.

The whole thing was amazingly complex and only worked as long as everyone accepted that this was the way it was supposed to be. Which changed after the two World Wars. show less

Based on a lot of letters from contributors, this book gives a fair amount of insight into the day-to-day life of domestic servants from the Edwardian to post-Second World War period.

I found it a bit heavy-going at times, and not as entertaining as it might have been.