Chapters in this book

1. Front Matter i
2. Contents xi
3. List of figures xiii
4. Preface and acknowledgements xiv
5. Introduction: Knighthoods for the rich, penalties for the poor 1
6. 1800–1939
7. Hierarchical discipline 9
8. Britain’s gilded age 17
9. Public penury and private ostentation 27
10. A roller-coaster ride 36
11. 1940–59
12. The future belongs to us 51
13. Britain’s ‘New Deal’ 59
14. Brave new world 65
15. A shallow consensus 74
16. 1960–79
17. The rediscovery of poverty 83
18. Poorer under Labour 90
19. Consolidation or advance? 98
20. Peak equality 105
21. 1980–96
22. Don’t mention the ‘p’ word 115
23. Zapping labour 124
24. The dark shadow of the Poor Law 133
25. The great widening 144
26. Money worship 152
27. 1997–2010
28. The elephant in the room 163
29. Still born to rule 172
30. I’m not Mother Teresa 177
31. The house of cards 188
32. The good, the bad and the ugly 198
33. 2011–20
34. Divide and rule: playing politics with poverty 209
35. A leaner state 216
36. Burning injustice 224
37. Growing rich in their sleep 231
38. Breaking the high-inequality, high-poverty cycle 239
39. Afterword: COVID-19 and ‘the polo season’ 248
40. Notes 253
41. Index 289