The Asset Class : Hettie O'Brien on how Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself

You don't know their names, but they own the house you rent. They own your hospitals, nurseries and care homes, the media you consume and the companies you work for. They even own the tools your union uses to fight back.

For decades, private equity firms have infiltrated every corner of modern life. Wielding debt as a weapon, they push vital services into crisis.

Acclaimed by the likes of Grace Blakeley, Kate Raworth, Danny Dorling, Ha-Joon Chang and Oliver Bullough, The Asset Class is a vital intervention into the creep of Private Equity into public life - join us for the Edinburgh launch with author and journalist Hettie O'Brien!

In The Asset Class, O'Brien penetrates a hidden empire of billion-dollar deals and covert financial warfare. From Copenhagen to San Francisco, Barcelona to the Yorkshire Dales, she follows the money, the ideological roots and the trail of destruction. What she finds is chilling: private equity isn't just reshaping the economy - it's selling out the foundations of Western society. The new owners think they can hide in the shadows. But the owned are fighting back.

When Hettie O'Brien investigates, the apex predators of the global economy should rest a little less easy on their Learjets. The Asset Class is part compelling wake-up call and part financial thriller. It informs and inspires fundamental change in equal, elegant measures - SHAMI CHAKRABARTI, barrister and human rights activist

Private equity has quietly taken control of the foundations of everyday life, spreading insecurity and 'enshittifying' everything from coffee shops to care homes. O'Brien reveals its arcane dynamics by telling the stories of the fascinating - and often unscrupulous - characters at its heart. This is essential reading - GRACE BLAKELEY, author of VULTURE CAPITALISM