The administrative system of ancient Egypt in the late Middle Kingdom is difficult to understand because of a regrettable lack of convincing sources, such as a treatise on administration. Nevertheless, there is a widespread disparate spectrum of sources, although they are difficult to interpret. Some  emerge directly from administrative practice, such as registers or provisioning lists, and require knowledge of the organisation of the administration system. Others consist of just titles and epithets. 
Therefore it is very arduous and virtually impossible to draw together this scattered and incoherent information to form a coherent picture. Many Egyptologists have studied this subject, such as Oleg Berlev, William Ward, Wolfram Grajetzki, Detlef Franke, and last but not least Stephen Quirke himself, not only in this volume. The editing and analysis of the diverse material in pBoulaq 1.8 is due to his labours.1 The material in this papyrus is useful and substantial for understanding the  administrative system and was of benefit to Quirke for this volume too. 
In this book Quirke faces the challenge of outlining the structure of central, local and temple  administration and assigning the relevant titles to the different levels of this system, as well as defining the tasks and responsibilities connected with these titles. The focus of the investigation is the 'Amtstitel' and the position of the titleholder within the hierarchy of administrative structures, not  occupations. Titles are listed hierarchically and presented in hieroglyphs, transliteration and translation. Quirke gives references for each title and explains the social position and responsibilities of the titleholder.