Until this book was first published in 1979, poverty studies had been exclusively concerned with studying the poor.

This controversial book changed the whole debate about poverty in Britain by shifting the emphasis to a detailed examination of the rich. It looks at the distribution of income and wealth in the second half of the twentieth century and critically examines the claim that Britain was becoming a more equal society.

It also discusses the massive shift of resources to the corporate sector since 1974. There are chapters on the mechanics for reviewing top salaries and the increasing problem of tax avoidance.