Engines of Privilege: Britain's Private School Problem

(Paperback)

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'Thoroughly researched and written with such calm authority, yet makes you want to scream with righteous indignation' John O'Farrell We can expect the manifesto-writers at the next general election to pass magpie-like over these chapters ... The appeal to act is heartfelt Financial Times ___________________ Includes a new chapter, 'Moving Ahead' Britains private, fee-paying schools are institutions where children from affluent families have their privileges further entrenched through a high-quality, richly-resourced education. Engines of Privilege contends that, in a society that mouths the virtues of equality of opportunity, of fairness and of social cohesion, the educational apartheid separating private schools from our state schools deploys our national educational resources unfairly; blocks social mobility; reproduces privilege down the generations; and underpins a damaging democratic deficit in our society. Francis Green and David Kynaston carefully examine options for change, while drawing on the valuable lessons of history. Clear, vigorous prose is combined with forensic analysis to powerful effect, illuminating the painful contrast between the importance of private schools in British society and the near-absence of serious, policy-shaping debate. ___________________ 'An excoriating account of the inequalities perpetuated by Britains love affair with private schools' The Times

Reviews

Thoroughly researched and written with such calm authority, yet makes you want to scream with righteous indignation -- John O'Farrell
Their tone is calm and evidence-based, not agitprop They have made up my mind. I now feel clear not just that change is urgently needed, but that options for change are more varied, imaginative and realistic than Id dared imagine -- Maggie Fergusson * Tablet *
Fascinating -- Alex Renton * Spectator *
[A] powerful attack on private schools as engines of privilege a forensic examination of what the authors call Britains private school problem They start strong leaving you in no doubt about the path from private schooling to the elite This book does a fine job of explaining and damning Britains private school problem -- Hugo Rifkind * The Times *
An excoriating account of the inequalities perpetuated by Britains love affair with private schools * The Times *
A passionate attack on private schools Kynastons flair for anecdotes shines through ... Fascinating -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *
Timely * Guardian *
The historical background to our arguments over state and private education today is the most intriguing part of Engines of Privilege ... imbued with Kynastons fascination with the arguments and mores of post-war Britain -- Anne McElvoy * Evening Standard *
Francis Green and David Kynaston say loud and clear that Britains private schools are a social problem This book provides warnings and lessons of what doesnt work and ideas of what policies could work to dismantle these 'engines of privilege' * Socialist Worker *
A fresh dissection of what [Kynaston and Green] deem "Britain's private school problem" ... We can expect the manifesto-writers at the next general election to pass magpie-like over these chapters * Financial Times *
[A] forensic and damning examination of ... "Britain's private school problem" * The Week *
David Kynaston is one of the great chroniclers of our modern story ... Every paragraph contains some glittering nugget -- Praise for David Kynaston's 'Modernity Britain' * Sunday Times *
An exemplary narrative history, with the archives plundered judiciously and plenty of focus on people and their quirks Fascinating -- Praise for 'Till Time's Last Sand' * The Times *
This is the work of a scholar with a gift for illuminating every square inch of each enormous canvas he chooses to paint Kynaston brings characters large and small to life -- Praise for 'Till Time's Last Sand' * Literary Review *
A historian of peerless sensitivity and curiosity about the lives of individuals -- Praise for 'Modernity Britain' * Financial Times *

Author Bio

Francis Green is Professor of Work and Education Economics at IOE, UCLs Faculty of Education and Society, University College London, UK. He is the author of ten books and 150 papers, and is a recognised authority on the economic and social effects of private schooling in the past and present. He works frequently as an advisor to the the OECD, the European Union and the World Bank, as well as to the UK government. David Kynaston has been a professional historian since 1973 and has written twenty books, including on the City of London and cricket, as well as a series aiming to cover the history of post-war Britain (194579), 'Tales of a New Jerusalem'. He is currently an honorary professor at Kingston University.