Hodge and His Masters is a collection of essays which appeared originally as a series of journal pieces with a running theme, first published together as a two volume edition under this title in 1880. Richard Jefferies described the plight of 'Hodge', a contemporary nick-name for the agricultural labourer, and his relationship to those who set the conditions that controlled his life: the farmers, the squire, the clergy and the guardians of the workhouse. Using his firsthand knowledge of the country and farming people he produced a series of vivid fictional characters as the vehicles for his story. Although the book has often been classified as a novel, indeed Jefferies may himself have regarded it as such, it does not have the traditional structure of one, lacking a real plot or a strong feeling of continuity through the chapters. What Hodge and His Masters does very successfully is paint, in a succession of graphic portraits, the men and women that made up the farming community of a century ago. Jefferies writes with such passion and his descriptions are so vivid that we have no difficulty in identifying with his characters and their concerns.