ABSTRACT
British society is a complicated affair, full of loose ends and bits that don’t fit. This may be a good thing for the people who live in it, but it is a source of frustration for those who study it and try to understand it. Every attempt to sum it up in a simple formula-as a ‘class society’ or whatever-has proved to have so many exceptions and qualifications that it was more trouble than it was worth. The first thing to understand about British society is that there are no short-cuts, no master keys.
