Chums

A clear exposition of why class still matters so much in the Tory party. Basically donkeys being happily led by ass’. Typically they are an officier caste fit only for peacetime and garrison duty. As Covid proved when the going got tough they collapsed like an undercooked soufflé. Ideal book for someone who wants to understand the current mess in British politics.

This book is impeccably researched. The author really knows his stuff. It’s all fun and games that Bojo and his gang ruled the country, until it wasn’t and people needlessly died during the pandemic because of their ineptitude.

A quick and very relevant read, about a subject that should be interesting for everyone. I was amazed during the first half, at just how significant the influence of Oxford is and the level of corruption in British politics. Kuper brings out the route to power very well, and describes entertainingly the famous characters who predictably ended up in Parliament.However, the causality between Brexit and Oxford is less thoroughly argued. Similar EU concerns persist in other countries too. Also, the second half of the book at times read like an FT opinion piece, rather than a detailed analysis.He also misses the reasons for why non-Oxbridge Brits put up with this. Why is this system able to persist in the UK and not in others. Why do Brits gleefully send their kids to Boarding school? And why do they pay such attention to class and accent in the UK? Ultimately, Oxford is part of the broader issue. Would be interesting to get a fuller picture in a longer book.Overall though, I would highly recommend it.

This book provides a unique and interesting insight into the British power structure and its roots in the “public” schools (most notably Eton) that feed into Oxford, and then into the current ruling Tory class. The author’s ham-fisted attempts to portray “white straight men” (a term he uses ad nauseum) as constantly stepping on the lower (and even middle) classes to succeed without effort or merit becomes tiresome and feels like sour grapes by the end of the book. His facile treatment of Brexit, portraying it as an attempt to regain the glory of Britain’s empire days, ignores the very real concerns of EU nation like the UK that were reluctant to be responsible for bailing out other EU countries with a less motivated work force and less responsible national government. In the end, it is an interesting read about key players in the Tory government, but fails in the author’s attempts to portray them as empty suits - for the most part, they come across as witty rogues.

Although there is nothing new about the British Class system revealed - the role of the Oxford Union and its encouragement of bluff and bluster over thought through fact based debate is well told and an eye opener. I would listen to most U.K. politicians speaking truisms, show boating, blustering, bull shitting with a degree of amusement and disgust - after reading this it is so clear that it is all self serving and that integrity in British Politics had completely disappeared with the arrival of Blair and continues with Cameron, Johnson, Gove, et al.

It is disappointing that people can slide through Oxford with the kind of culture and behavior documented in this book. With regards to the book and author's writing, I think it could have benefited from some sharper editing. The reader sorts of 'gets it' about the culture of this segment of the undergraduate population of Oxford. The narrative on the emergence of the movement to separate from Europe is interesting and enlightening.

Why has England suffered from decades of mis-government? The author (rightly, in my opinion) lays much of the blame on a pipeline that takes entitled white men from private schools to Oxford University, then on to journalism and then politics. At each stage, Oxford men select other Oxford men for positions for which their only qualification is their Oxford degree. No wonder the country is in a mess. (Signed: Another Oxford Man)

Book was well packed. Arrived fast.Started the book. Well written.

This book is a wry look at the British ruling class and how, in many cases, their attendance at the University of Oxford facilitated their access to the levers of political power. On p. 3, Kuper notes that since the Second World War, no fewer than 11 out of 15 British Prime Ministers have been to Oxford.In particular, the book focuses on Oxford-educated Tories with public school backgrounds (e.g., Boris Johnson). So far as Oxford itself is concerned, Kuper has some claim to authority, since he was an undergraduate there in the late 1980s/early 1990s.Kuper argues that that people with political ambitions who arrive at Oxford with public school backgrounds tend to have a sense of entitlement, seeing themselves as predestined for the top. The Oxford Union (not to be confused with the university’s students’ union) is a debating society, where proceedings are conducted along lines very similar to those of the House of Commons. Kuper explains that it’s preponderantly Tory students who have been active in the Oxford Union. Consequently, participation in Oxford Union debates has provided useful debating practice for would-be Tory MPs.Regarding the UK’s exit from the European Union, Kuper was evidently on the losing, ‘remain’, side in the referendum, and he attributes Brexit, in good part, to Oxford-educated Tories who resented the idea of a federalized European Union, because it limited the power they would hold on achieving their destiny of heading the government of the UK. However, Britain’s pro-Brexit politicians were by no means all Oxford-educated Tories. Furthermore, whatever their true motives, pro-Brexit politicians caught the mood of a large swathe of the population, many of whom were alarmed by large-scale net migration to the overcrowded UK from mainland Europe under the EU’s ‘freedom of movement’ provisions.

The book offers a fascinating theory that the ruling elite in UK (Cameron, Osborne, Johnson, Gove, Rees Mogg) were all destined for ‘high office’ simply because of their Eaton-Oxford Union pathway. It is mostly convincing and a light read about a potentially deep, heavy subject!

Of course we all knew this really, but did not realise just how bad it is. Which school did you attend, do I detect a dialect, we all know this. But that those men have so much control and so much arrogance, so little knowledge, so little interest, the self-importance and stupidity, that rather surprised me. This book is a must-have for all interested in the dreadful trajectory in which Great Britian is finding itself.

I found the book very informative. It’s not just damning about the British elite. Some of its lessons apply more widely. Post-truth glibness seems to affect politics elsewhere at least in anglophone countries. Glibness with minimal competence seems to lead to advancement in other fields too.

Similar to his weekly FT column, Kuper’s book is relevant, incisive, and beautifully written.