Posh Boys

‘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.' –ObserverImagine a world where leaders are able to pass power directly to their children. These children are plucked from their nurseries and sent to beautiful compounds far away from all the other children. They are provided with all the teachers they need, the best facilities, doctors and food. Every day they are told this is because they are the brightest and most important children in the world.Years later they are presented with the best jobs, the grandest houses and most of the money. Through their networks of friends and family they control the government, the courts, the army, the police and the country’s finances. They claim everyone is equal, that each person has a chance to become a leader. But this isn’t true.If such a world existed today wouldn’t we say it was unfair, even corrupt?With Posh Boys Robert Verkaik issues a searing indictment of the public school system and outlines how, through meaningful reform, we can finally make society fairer for all.

“'You cannot understand Britain without understanding this - the story of how we became a nation obsessed with elite education that continues to stack the odds against fairness and progress, and the cultural forces it has unleashed upon us all. Robert Verkaik tells it with clarity, and makes a powerful call for change.'”

'Verkaik comprehensively demolishes [public school] claims.'

Peter Wilby, New Statesman

‘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

‘Does a fine job of reminding us how powerful a hold the elite schools have over public life.’ 

The Times

'An illuminating and hugely enjoyable read, packed full of eye-opening facts... At a time when the gap between rich and poor is widening, we need to talk seriously about the role of public schools in our society. Posh Boys is a welcome catalyst for that debate.'

Sunday Herald

'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

'A trenchant j’accuse against the old-boy chumocracy... Posh Boys is, for a book about public schools, decidedly comprehensive.'

Guardian

‘You cannot understand Britain without understanding this – the story of how we became a nation obsessed with elite education that continues to stack the odds against fairness and progress, and the cultural forces it has unleashed upon us all. Robert Verkaik tells it with clarity, and makes a powerful call for change.’

-- Afua Hirsch, author of Brit(ish)

‘Inspired, committed, careful and kind.’

-- Danny Dorling, author of Inequality and the 1%

Robert Verkaik is an author and journalist specialising in extremism and education. He writes for the Guardian, Independent, the i, Observer, Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times. His reporting was longlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2010 and he was a runner-up in the specialist journalist category at the 2013 National Press Awards. He lives in Surrey.

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