Description: "A Very Private School offers a clear-eyed, first-hand account of a culture of cruelty at the school Charles Spencer attended in his youth and provides important insights into an antiquated boarding system. Drawing on the memories of many of his schoolboy contemporaries, as well as his own letters and diaries from the time, he reflects on the hopelessness and abandonment he felt at aged eight, viscerally describing the intense pain of homesickness and the appalling inescapability of it all. Exploring the long-lasting impact of his experiences, Spencer presents a candid reckoning with his past and a reclamation of his childhood." -- Provided by publisher.
Brief description: Charles Spencer is the author of seven history books, including Sunday Times (London) bestsellers The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I's Dream, Blenheim: Battle for Europe (shortlisted for History Book of the Year, UK National Book Awards), and Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I. To Catch a King: Charles II's Great Escape was a Times (London) bestseller in 2017 and 2018. He also cohosts The Rabbit Hole Detectives podcast and has presented historical documentaries for television. He was awarded an MA in modern history from Magdalen College, Oxford University, before going on to work for the NBC News for a decade, as an on-air reporter for Today, and a presenter for the History Channel.
Review Quotes: *A People Magazine Best Celebrity Memoir of 2024 Selection* "A tour de force." -Washington Post "[Spencer] writes here with commanding fluency, evoking every last squeaky floorboard and V-neck sweater in forensic detail." -Air Mail "One of the best non-fiction books to read in 2024." -The Daily Mail "A Very Private School is not a roll-call of random cruelties but a complete and utterly dismal picture of institutionalised horror." -The New Stateseman "[Spencer's] story is compelling and deeply disturbing. It is also beautifully written. Despite navigating deep and troubled waters, [his] prose is deft and lively. It is never melodramatic or overblown, even in the book's darkest moments." -The Post and Courier