Taxation in Britain Since 1660

"Plucking the goose to get the maximum number of feathers for the minimum number of squawks." This view of taxation is partly, but only partly, correct. The total volume of taxation is certainly related largely to what the taxpayer thinks is worth paying for, and how much he or she is prepared to pay. Both of these items have changed enormously over three and a half centuries; but there is a good deal more to it than that. This book seeks to understand and explain the reasons for the changing patterns of taxation.