First published in 1980

Wealth and The Wealthy in the Modern World looks at the careers of the very wealthy and the extent of wealth-holding and wealth distribution in the major Western nations since the Industrial Revolution. Each essay examines how wealth was created, controlled and maintained in each country. It also considers the relationship between wealthy persons and the rest of society and the divisions amongst the wealthy class. Social mobility into top wealth and income brackets is also discussed, as are the idiosyncratic features of wealth-holding in each society. Together these essays provide a broad, yet detailed portrait of a social class which has had extraordinary influence on shaping the social history of the Western world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This book will be of interest to students of economics, political science, and development studies.