Sad Little Men
- Author Richard Beard
- Narrator John Sackville
- Publisher Random House
- Run Time 8 hours and 5 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Advice on education, Corruption in politics, government and society, Educational systems and structures, History of education, Independent schools, private education, Memoirs, Moral and social purpose of education, Society and culture: general.
Titles Purchased
- 1-5
- 6-10
- 11-15
- 16-20
- Over 20
Price p/Title
- £7.99
- £6.99
- £5.99
- £4.99
- £3.99
Listen to a sample
What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
The number #1 bestseller about the world that shaped Boris Johnson.
In 1975, as a child, Richard Beard was sent away from his home to sleep in a dormitory. So were David Cameron and Boris Johnson.
In those days a private boys' boarding school education was largely the same experience as it had been for generations: a training for the challenges of Empire. He didn't enjoy it. But the first and most important lesson was to not let that show.
Being separated from the people who love you is traumatic. How did that feel at the time, and what sort of adult does it mould?
This is a story about England, and a portrait of a type of boy, trained to lead, who becomes a certain type of man. As clearly as an X-ray, it reveals the make-up of those who seek power - what makes them tick, and why.
Sad Little Men addresses debates about privilege head-on; clearly and unforgettably, it shows the problem with putting a succession of men from boarding schools into positions of influence, including 10 Downing Street. Is this who we want in charge, especially at a time of crisis?
It is a passionate, tender reckoning - with one individual's past, but also with a national bad habit.
© Richard Beard 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021
Critics Review
-
Read this book
Alastair Campbell -
Definitive and brilliantly expressed
Viv Groskop -
Dazzling in its anger and the force of its argument
Times Literary Supplement -
A sensitive and incisive analysis of the British class system…insanely readable
Tom Holland, author of Dominion -
One of the finest polemics I have ever come across… Sad Little Men has been an eye-opener
Spectator
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