Prep School Children: A Class Apart over Two Centuries »

In a compelling and sometimes shocking account, Vyvyen Brendon dwells not on the adult purposes behind a peculiarly British institution but on the lives of the children.

Illustrations vii

Acknowledgements ix

Introduction: 'How Would You Know?' 1

1 'A Little Roughing It': Georgian Boys' Schools 9

2 'The Only Way to Bring up Boys': Victorian Prep Schools 29

3 'Three Stumps, One Wicket': Late Victorian and Edwardian Heyday 51

4 'Too Young to Gird on the Sword': The First World War 75

5 'All the Ghastly Smells of School': The Inter-War Period 93

6 'A Higher Sense of Sacrifice': The Second World War 115

7 'How to be Topp': The Post-War World 137

8 'Boiled Mince and Incense': The Swinging Sixties 159

9 'The Harry Potter Effect': Modern Prep Schools 181

10 'The Most Potent Memory of My Life': The Effects of the Prep School Experience 203

Endnotes 215

Bibliography 233

Index 237