Description: An almost forgotten classic yet also a founding text of Victorian middle-class identity, Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management is a volume of insight and common sense. Written by one whom we might now describe as a Victorian Martha Stewart, this book offers advice on fashion, child-care, animal husbandry, poisons, and the management of servants. To the modern reader expecting stuffy verbosity or heavy moralizing, Beeton's book is a revelation: it explores the foods of Europe and beyond, suggesting new foodstuffs and techniques as well, and mixing domestic advice with discussions of science, religion, class, industrialism, and gender roles. Alternately frugal and fashionable, anxious and self-confident, the book highlights the concerns of the growing Victorian middle-class at a key moment in its history. This abridged edition serves as a cookery book, while documenting a significant aspect of Victorian social and cultural history.

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