The authors began researching the "really" rich 10 years ago and this book is the result. It details Britain's 400 richest people, containing profiles of each of them as well as essays by Gilbert de Botton and Lord Gowrie. The research has produced insights, facts and figures of political and social significance. For example, more than 50% of the great estates of the last century are still largely in the hands of the same families, over 100 of the richest people in the UK sit and vote unelected in parliament, 400, between them, own 4 million acres of Britain, and their wealth is equal to all economic activity in the UK in one year.