Skip to navigation Skip to content
Bookhaus Bristol logo
All
  • Cart / £0.00
  • :home
  • :events
  • :online shop
  • book subscriptions
    • Indie Press
    • Feminist Texts
    • Revolutionary Texts
    • Weird Fiction
  • :subscribe
  • :staff picks
  • :buy audiobooks
  • :reading groups
  • :about us
  • :work with us

Bookhaus, 4 Rope Walk, Bristol BS1 6ZJ.
Opening hours. Mon & Tues 9am – 6pm, Wed – Sat 9am – 8pm, Sun 10am – 6pm

Home / Society / Sad Little Men

Sad Little Men

£10.99

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.

Out of stock

SKU: 9781529114805 Category: Society Tags: Advice on education, Educational systems & structures, History of education, Independent schools, private education, Memoirs, Moral & social purpose of education, Political corruption, Society & culture: general
  • Description
  • Additional information

Description

‘Read this book’ Alastair Campbell

‘A really wonderful book’ Nigella Lawson via Twitter

In 1975 Richard Beard was sent away to boarding school. So were Boris Johnson and David Cameron.

He didn’t enjoy it. But the first and most important lesson was not to let that show.

A public school education has long been accepted in Britain as a preparation for leadership, but being separated from your parents at a young age is traumatic. What sort of adult does it mould? Tackling debates about privilege head-on, Sad Little Men reveals what happens when you put a succession of men from boarding schools into positions of influence, including at 10 Downing Street, and asks the question: is this really who we want in charge?

‘The most important book I’ve read this year’ Adam Rutherford

Additional information

Weight 0.204 kg
Dimensions 19.8 × 13 × 1.8 cm
Author

Beard, Richard

Publisher

Vintage

Imprint

Vintage

Cover

Paperback

Pages

278

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

373.2220941 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

Related products

  • People, Power, and Profits

    £9.99
    Read more
  • The Dialectics of Art

    £17.99
    Read more
  • The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine

    £11.99
    Add to basket
  • The Long Depression

    £16.99
    Read more
  • Stolen

    £10.99
    Read more
  • Why We Can’t Wait

    £9.99
    Read more

Bookhaus Bristol logo

Opening hours

Monday: 9am – 6pm
Tuesday: 9am – 6pm
Wednesday: 9am – 6pm
Thursday: 9am – 8pm
Friday: 9am – 8pm
Saturday: 9am – 8pm
Sunday: 10am – 6pm

Contact

  • bookhaus 4 Rope Walk,
    Bristol BS1 6ZJ
  • 0117 244 0326
  • info@bookhausbristol.com
  • View Our Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions

bookhaus: ©2026. Shopper Designed by ShopperWP.
  • My Account
  • Search
  • 0

Copyright © 2026 bookhaus, 4 Rope Walk, Bristol BS1 6ZJ. All rights reserved. Web Smart Media

Cookies on this website

We use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. We do this to analyise how our website is used by you. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site.

Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
  • Manage options
  • Manage services
  • Manage {vendor_count} vendors
  • Read more about these purposes
View preferences
  • {title}
  • {title}
  • {title}