Master and Servant

Reviews / Votes

'Steedman is as interested in the stories we tell about the past as she is in what actually happened in that faraway country. Her concern in Master and Servant is not merely to rescue Phoebe Beatson from bad melodrama, but to show how even the best-intentioned historical writing can end up making us see things that aren't there ...' The Guardian '... this book is hugely innovative in its literary and historical ambitions. ... It is also a welcome reconstruction of the life of a single individual of a class, of a sort and of an occupation that has left only the faintest traces in the archive, whose silence has been for too long allowed to excuse the criminal neglect of historians.' Social History 'Master and Servant is a novel and compelling book. ... It roves across a fascinating array of topics, including pagan gods, classical didactic works, and (a very interesting and insightful) discussion of the philosophy of labor and its value. ... Many research students will find the insight into the process of research very useful.' Journal of British Studies '... an important new lens for reading the now mythical story of the making of the working class. ... Steedman's Master and Servant is a valuable addition to our understanding of work and domestic life in this cradle of industrial society.' Susannah Ottaway, H-Albion 'This is microhistory at its best. Taking as its subject a clergyman and his maidservant, it sheds lights on both the personal histories of these two individuals and on many topics and debates of broader historical interest.... Steedman sets out to establish for herself how these scattered archival records can be reshaped into a coherent and truthful historical account, openly and carefully discussing with the reader her acts of reconstruction, and the processes by which she transforms the historical documents into historical narrative.' English Historical Review