Simpletons often claim "I can't even boil an egg" so this slim volume has been written to give them a leg up. Boiled eggs are a must for gentlefolk and as a child our family butler Frobisher would bring the family perfectly boiled eggs from the kitchens where housekeeper Janet Frobisher would daily supervise the kitchen staff in egg boiling. Boiled eggs shored up the British Empire for 500 years, particularly the unctuously runny ones served out of finest 18th century Worcester porcelain egg cups and lovingly fingered with perfectly toasted bread soldiers.