The old boys
Subtitle: the decline and rise of the public school
By: David Turner
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 335
ISBN-13: 9780300219388
Subjects: Private schools; Education; Preparatory schools; History
Description: To many in the United Kingdom, the British public school remains the disliked and mistrusted embodiment of privilege and elitism. They have educated many of the country's top bankers and politicians over the centuries right up to the present, including the present Prime Minister. David Turner's vibrant history of Great Britain's public schools, from the foundation of Winchester College in 1382 to the modern day, offers a fresh reappraisal of the controversial educational system. Turner argues that public schools are, in fact, good for the nation and are presently enjoying their true "Golden Age," countering the long-held belief that these institutions achieved their greatest glory during Great Britain's Victorian Era. Turner's engrossing and enlightening work is rife with colorful stories of schoolboy revolts, eccentric heads, shocking corruption, and financial collapse. His thoughtful appreciation of these learning establishments follows the progression of public schools from their sometimes brutal and inglorious pasts through their present incarnations as vital contributors to the economic, scientific, and political future of the country. (from Amazon)

Contains primary source material.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 318-326) and index.
Table of contents: title: An idealistic cynic and the birth of a system 1382-1603; title: Earls and shoemakers 1611-1767; title: Of frogs and men 1768-1827; title: First-character. Second-physique. Third-intelligence 1828-1869; title: The monastic system is getting on my nerves 1870-1902; title: Beware Greeks bearing gifts 1902-1945; title: Embracing the examination incubus 1945-1979; title: Golden age at last 1980-2014; title: Beautiful natures, overpriced products and self-destruction; title: The pauline and the pasty.