The relationship between parental wealth and background and children's educational outcomes is particularly strong and deeply problematic".
It is a highly topical question, and in this timely book Robert Winder provides a wealth of background information to try to reassure contemporary alarmists.
In 2013 tests sat by 15-year-olds across the UK showed state schools outperformed private schools by some way once the wealth and background of their pupils were taken into account.
For all their flaws and failings, the new schools have injected something exciting into a once-moribund education landscape: the belief that regardless of wealth or background, schools can transform lives.
Windsor-Clive, third son of the first Earl of Plymouth, "represents the generation of men, regardless of wealth and background, who died at a tragically young age defending their country," says Rusi. " In the normal course of events, these young officers … would have been destined to become the nation's military and political leaders".
With that constituency ready and waiting, "Republicans this year picked their worst possible candidate," Garin argues, contending that Romney's wealth and background provoke animosity to Republican elites among white working-class voters, partially counterbalancing the hostility of many of these voters to President Obama.
Ms Suss thinks that it is possible to launch a successful start-up without a wealth family background, but that coming from money does have advantages.
It examines the wealth and background of more than 2,300 billionaires - and the findings undermine the image of the wealthy as being self-taught self-starters trained on the market stall.
Its political expressions lead to a growth of nationalism and protectionism in the relations between states and to tensions within states when different parts of the population, whether defined by religion, ethnicity, wealth, political background, etc., are seeking ways to pursue their interests.
He talks about how important it is for each person to define his or her own path, regardless of their wealth or background.
