One of Them

One of Them
Author: Musa Okwonga
Publisher: Unbound Publishing
Total Pages: 163
Release: 2021-04-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1783529687

Musa Okwonga – a young Black man who grew up in a predominantly working-class town – was not your typical Eton College student. The experience moulded him, challenged him... but also made him wonder why a place that was so good for him also seems to contribute to the harm being done to the UK. The more he searched, the more evident the connection became between one of Britain’s most prestigious institutions and the genesis of Brexit, and between his home town in the suburbs of Greater London and the rise of the far right. Woven throughout this deeply personal and unflinching memoir of Musa’s five years at Eton in the 1990s is a present-day narrative which engages with much wider questions about pressing social and political issues: privilege, the distribution of wealth, the rise of the far right in the UK, systemic racism, the ‘boys’ club’ of government and the power of the few to control the fate of the many. One of Them is both an intimate account and a timely exploration of race and class in modern Britain.

A Black Boy at Eton

A Black Boy at Eton
Author: Dillibe Onyeama
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2022-02-03
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0241993830

'The story [Onyeama] had to tell was so gripping and shocking, it wouldn't let me go . . . A remarkably well-written memoir' Bernardine Evaristo, from the Introduction Dillibe was the second black boy to study at Eton - joining in 1965 - and the first to complete his education there. Written at just 21, this is a deeply personal, revelatory account of the racism he endured during his time as a student at the prestigious institution. He tells in vivid detail of his own background as the son of a Nigerian judge at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, of his arrival at the school, of the curriculum, of his reception by other boys (and masters), and of his punishments. He tells, too, of the cruel racial prejudice and his reactions to it, and of the alienation and stereotyping he faced at such a young age. A Black Boy at Eton is a searing, ground-breaking book displaying the deep psychological effects of colonialism and racism. A title in the Black Britain: Writing Back series - selected by Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo, this series rediscovers and celebrates pioneering books depicting black Britain that remap the nation.

An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Education

An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Education
Author: Tony Little
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2015-06-16
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1472913124

'A hugely reassuring, common-sense guide no parent of teenage boys should be without.' - Sunday Times In his bestselling An Intelligent Person's Guide to Education, Tony Little, former Head Master of Eton College, asks the fundamental questions about how we should make our schools and schoolchildren fit for the modern world. This book will enlighten teachers, students and anxious parents alike, providing advice from the author's many years as a teacher, headmaster and governor in both independent schools and academies, in answer to the key issues concerning education. Tony Little explains the research behind how teenagers' brains function and how they act accordingly, discusses how to deal with sex, drugs and poor discipline, reassesses the meaning of 'character' in a child's education, and provides his own list of books every bright 16-year-old should read. In addition, he offers tips for parents on dealing with adolescents and communicating with their child's school. Drawing on a lifetime's work in schools, An Intelligent Person's Guide to Education is a refreshing, rational and original take on the most important stage in a child's development. An entertaining and essential book for teachers, parents and students interested in how education should serve our young people, now and in future.

Alain Elkann Interviews

Alain Elkann Interviews
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2017-09-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781614286325

Alain Elkann has mastered the art of the interview. With a background in novels and journalism, and having published over twenty books translated across ten languages, he infuses his interviews with innovation, allowing them to flow freely and organically. Alain Elkann Interviews will provide an unprecedented window into the minds of some of the most well-known and -respected figures of the last twenty-five years.

Charmed Lives

Charmed Lives
Author: Michael Korda
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 822
Release: 2009-10-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 0061847631

A Rolls Royce Silver Cloud drove him to airports; the British film industry kowtowed to his power; the great Hollywood studios fawned at his feet.Sir Alexander Korda, one of the world's most flamboyant movie tycoons, rose from obscurity in rural Hungary to become a legendary filmmaker. With him were his brothers, Zoltan and Vincent, all living charmed lives in circles that included H. G. Wells, Sir Lawrence Olivier, Marlena Dietrich, Vivien Leigh, and Merle Oberon, who was soon to be Alex's wife. But along with Alex's flair for success was an equally powerful impulse for destruction. Now, Vincent's son, Michael Korda, in the first book of his memoirs, recalls the enchanted figures of his childhood...the glory days of the Korda brothers' great films...and then their heartbreaking, tragic end.

Posh Boys

Posh Boys
Author: Robert Verkaik
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 447
Release: 2018-07-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1786073846

‘The latest in the series of powerful books on the divisions in modern Britain, and will take its place on many bookshelves beside Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race and Owen Jones’s Chavs.’ –Andrew Marr, Sunday Times ‘In his fascinating, enraging polemic, Verkaik touches on one of the strangest aspects of the elite schools and their product’s domination of public life for two and a half centuries: the acquiescence of everyone else.’ –Observer In Britain today, the government, judiciary and military are all led by an elite who attended private school. Under their watch, our society has become increasingly divided and the gap between rich and poor is now greater than ever before. Is this the country we want to live in? If we care about inequality, we have to talk about public schools. Robert Verkaik issues a searing indictment of the system originally intended to educate the most underprivileged Britons, and outlines how, through meaningful reform, we can finally make society fairer for all.

Write to the Point

Write to the Point
Author: Sam Leith
Publisher: The Experiment
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2018-08-07
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1615194622

Good writers follow the rules. Great writers know the rules—and follow their instincts! Finding the right words, in the right order, matters—whether you’re a student embarking on an essay, a job applicant drafting your cover letter, an employee composing an email . . . even a (hopeful) lover writing a text. Do it wrong and you just might get an F, miss the interview, lose a client, or spoil your chance at a second date. Do it right, and the world is yours. In Write to the Point, accomplished author and literary critic Sam Leith kicks the age-old lists of dos and don’ts to the curb. Yes, he covers the nuts and bolts we need to be in complete command of the language: grammar, punctuation, parts of speech, and other subjects half-remembered from grade school. But more importantly, he charts a commonsense course between the “Armies of Correctness” and the “Descriptivist Irregulars.” For Leith, knowing not just the rules but also how and when to ignore them—developing an ear for what works best in context—is everything. In this master class, Leith teaches us a skill of paramount importance in this smartphone age, when we all carry a keyboard in our pockets: to write clearly and persuasively for any purpose—to write to the point.

Two Owls at Eton - A True Story

Two Owls at Eton - A True Story
Author: Jonathan Franklin
Publisher: Metro Publishing
Total Pages: 120
Release: 2016-10-13
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1786063158

'A CLASSIC OF WILDLIFE WRITING' – THE FIELD Listed as one of its five best nature books - 2010 Country LifeWhen Jonathan Franklin takes two baby tawny owls back to Eton, he has no idea how chaotic the following months will be. The birds show no respect for Etonian routine and tradition. They trash his room and rule his daily life, and are known throughout the school as 'Dum' and 'Dee' . Although a keen naturalist, Jonathan struggles to understand his charges and to find the right food for them; at first meat and feathers, soon mice and rats. Even so, they nearly die of malnutrition on two occasions. Frantic, he searches for natural food. How to keep them alive is a constant worry. He watches them grow from ugly balls of fluff into beautiful adults, every change of plumage and behaviour noted. They play truant, they shock others, and lead Jonathan into hilarious adventures. They charm his housemaster and everybody who meets them. Best of all is seeing them flying about over those famous playing fields. All the time, Jonathan works to train them for eventual return to the wild. Will that be possible? He is never sure whether he will succeed. Now updated by the author to tell the end of this extraordinary story, Two Owls at Eton – very British, very witty, yet always close to the rawness of the natural world – is a story to delight everyone – whether they ever trod those playing fi elds, or have never wished to set eyes on the place.

Boarding School Syndrome

Boarding School Syndrome
Author: Joy Schaverien
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2015-06-05
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1317506588

Boarding School Syndrome is an analysis of the trauma of the 'privileged' child sent to boarding school at a young age. Innovative and challenging, Joy Schaverien offers a psychological analysis of the long-established British and colonial preparatory and public boarding school tradition. Richly illustrated with pictures and the narratives of adult ex-boarders in psychotherapy, the book demonstrates how some forms of enduring distress in adult life may be traced back to the early losses of home and family. Developed from clinical research and informed by attachment and child development theories ‘Boarding School Syndrome’ is a new term that offers a theoretical framework on which the psychotherapeutic treatment of ex-boarders may build. Divided into four parts, History: In the Name of Privilege; Exile and Healing; Broken Attachments: A Hidden Trauma, and The Boarding School Body, the book includes vivid case studies of ex-boarders in psychotherapy. Their accounts reveal details of the suffering endured: loss, bereavement and captivity are sometimes compounded by physical, sexual and psychological abuse. Here, Joy Schaverien shows how many boarders adopt unconscious coping strategies including dissociative amnesia resulting in a psychological split between the 'home self' and the 'boarding school self'. This pattern may continue into adult life, causing difficulties in intimate relationships, generalized depression and separation anxiety amongst other forms of psychological distress. Boarding School Syndrome demonstrates how boarding school may damage those it is meant to be a reward and discusses the wider implications of this tradition. It will be essential reading for psychoanalysts, Jungian analysts, psychotherapists, art psychotherapists, counsellors and others interested in the psychological, cultural and international legacy of this tradition including ex-boarders and their partners.