That some 7,500,000 people in this country should be living at or below the national assistance scales (since shown, by the Ministry of Social Security's own survey, to be a considerable underestimate) was not only shocking but incredible to many members of Nottingham University's 1965-66 course on British social structure, The anatomy of Britain.' Out of this class, therefore, arose the idea that it would be useful to investigate conditions in Nottingham to discover whether the local picture was compatible with the findings of Brain Abel-Smith and Peter Townsend.