The history of relief work is in its infancy. 'Calculating Compassion' draws on new archival research to reveal the preoccupations of 19th-century relief workers, and the legacies for relief work today. Tracing the early history of familiar British aid agencies such as the British Red Cross Society (founded 1870) and the Save the Children Fund UK (founded 1919) - as well as those less familiar and now defunct - this book challenges any notion of a common 'humanitarian' ideal.