What is social class? Can you really move classes ? How has class changed over time? What are the new classes of 21st century Britain and how do our purchasing habits give our class away? Once upon a time, the British class system was a simplified stratified system - criminal classes then working classes, middle classes, upper classes, and at the very top, the aristocracy. After some brilliant experiments in social levelling, mass consumerism and access to education for all, Wallop posits that the middle classes have swollen to the point of engulfing those either side and a new class system is in position that take over - one based consumption habits and attitudes towards consumption more than the occupation of your father. Are you a Hyphen-Leigh, a Portland Privateer, a Middleton, a Wood-burning Stover, a Rockabilly or a Sun Skittler? This book will attempt to classify you by your purchasing patterns and it’s worryingly accurate. Sure, Wallop himself is a privately educated cousin of an Earl, and can come off a little disparaging of the working classes but he is also disparaging of the upper classes. He clearly dislikes the whole system and the way we all seem to conform to it knowingly or otherwise. It’s an interesting read.

Class. It is the system in the UK that has been with us for 1000 years or more. The Now Show summed it up by asking people of each class what they called the space outside their back door; Working class call it the yard, middle class call it the garden and the upper class call it Devon! This system, with it's unwritten rules to catch those who have moved between them, has now become blurred and diffused according to Harry Wallop. In this book he seeks to redefine the class system by looking at the three factors that define where we are in society; income, products we buy, where we live. He comes up with a raft of different definitions for each type of person; from Asda mums, Sun Skittlers, Wood Burning Stovers, Portland Privateers and the Middleton classes. Each of these groups have a distinct income range, buy certain types of products and services and share similar aspirations. There are lots of points of crossover, for example, the Asda mums will spends lots on certain types of products, but other products are the budget end. He looks at each of the groups in detail over a food, education, homes, leisure and clothing to name a few. Even though he is a member of the upper class, some of his family background is from the working class, and this gives him a better insight to the new classes in the UK today. It is fascinating to read, and you end up looking at the way you spend money and where you spend it to determine your group as defined by Wallop. The writing style is good, though occasionally a little patronising, but i enjoyed reading it.