Originally published in 1983

The contributors to this book focus on a small group of private individuals who own a large part of Britain's assets. In particular, the book examines how new privileges were being created and old ones entrenched and magnified.

It summarises what was then known about the distribution of income and wealth in British society and examines the sweeping changes made by the Thatcher Government.

It pays special attention to the findings of the Royal Commission on the Distribution of Income and Wealth, which the Thatcher Government wound up, and provides a critique of the official view on the relative lack of importance of agricultural wealth.

The book concludes with an examination of how different pension rights affect the distribution of income in old age.