April 21, 2020
Public Schools and the Great War
/ Old Boys / PublicationsIn this pioneering and original book, Anthony Seldon and David Walsh study the impact that the public schools had on the conduct of the Great War, and vice versa.
Drawing on fresh evidence from 200 leading public schools and other archives, they challenge the conventional wisdom that it was the public school ethos that caused needless suffering on the Western Front and elsewhere. They distinguish between the younger front-line officers with recent school experience and the older ‘top brass’ whose mental outlook was shaped more by military background than by memories of school.