Of the many attempts to discover Jack the Ripper's identity, few omit the name of James Kenneth Stephen, tutor to Queen Victoria's eldest grandson, fondly known as Prince Eddy. While Stephen superficially fit the profile investigators established, was he really capable of the demented violence perpetrated by England's most famous serial killer? This volume takes an in-depth look at the life and experiences of James Kenneth Stephen, examining the relevant evidence and attempting to determine whether or not Stephen could actually have been involved in the Ripper murders. Delving into what little is known of Stephen's early years, the work discusses his relationship with his mother and his family's struggle with a hereditary mental illness. It follows him through his formative years at Eton, which he considered his true home and where he was introduced to the Greek notion of homosexuality. The work's primary focus is Stephen's relationship with Prince Eddy, who also became a suspect in the infamous London murders. The way in which Stephen's life intertwined with those of Prince Eddy and Montague Druitt, another Ripper suspect, is examined in detail. Other incidents of the fateful fall of 1888 and Stephen's final surrender to mental illness are also discussed. Appendices contain Stephen's poetry and details regarding his family ancestry.

Whatever your thoughts about Eton, they are likely to be strong: a symbol of class and privilege or a bastion of outdated ideas. Old alumnus Nick Fraser draws on his own experiences, the anecdotes of pupils and teachers past and present, and the recollections of the famous and infamous to evaluate the school.

Elizabeth Vandiver examines the ways in which British poets of the First World War used classical literature, culture, and history as a source of images, ideas, and even phrases for their own poetry. Vandiver argues that classics was a crucial source for writers from a wide variety of backgrounds, from working-class poets to those educated in public schools, and for a wide variety of political positions and viewpoints. Poets used references to classics both to support and to oppose the war from its beginning all the way to the Armistice and after. By exploring the importance of classics in the poetry of the First World War, Vandiver offers a new perspective on that poetry and on the history of classics in British culture.

To many in the United Kingdom, the British public school remains the disliked and mistrusted embodiment of privilege and elitism. They have educated many of the country’s top bankers and politicians over the centuries right up to the present, including the present Prime Minister. David Turner’s vibrant history of Great Britain’s public schools, from the foundation of Winchester College in 1382 to the modern day, offers a fresh reappraisal of the controversial educational system. Turner argues that public schools are, in fact, good for the nation and are presently enjoying their true “Golden Age,” countering the long-held belief that these institutions achieved their greatest glory during Great Britain’s Victorian Era. Turner’s engrossing and enlightening work is rife with colorful stories of schoolboy revolts, eccentric heads, shocking corruption, and financial collapse. His thoughtful appreciation of these learning establishments follows the progression of public schools from their sometimes brutal and inglorious pasts through their present incarnations as vital contributors to the economic, scientific, and political future of the country.

'Teachers and Football' explores the origins of schoolboy football in England and the factors influencing its development. It assesses the impact that schoolboy football has had on the development of the national game and on the development of sport in the community at large.

What is the state? The State of Freedom offers an important new take on this classic question by exploring what exactly the state did and how it worked. Patrick Joyce asks us to re-examine the ordinary things of the British state from dusty government files and post offices to well-thumbed primers in ancient Greek and Latin and the classrooms and dormitories of public schools and Oxbridge colleges. This is also a history of the 'who' and the 'where' of the state, of the people who ran the state, the government offices they sat in and the college halls they dined in. Patrick Joyce argues that only by considering these things, people and places can we really understand the nature of the modern state. This is both a pioneering new approach to political history in which social and material factors are centre stage, and a highly original history of modern Britain.

An examination of the ways in which gender intersects with informal and formal education in England, Germany, Indonesia, South Africa, USA and the Netherlands. The book looks at various issues including: citizenship; authority; colonialism and education; and the construction of national identities.

Following on from Public Schools and the Great War, Sir Anthony Seldon and David Walsh now examine those same schools in the Second World War. Privileged conservative traditions of private schools were challenged in the inter-war years by the changing social and political landscape, including a greater role for the alumni of girls’ public schools. What was that public school spirit in 1939 and how did it and its products cope with, and contribute to, the requirements of a modern global conflict both physically and intellectually? The book answers these questions by, for example, examining the public schools’ role in the development and operations of the RAF in unconventional warfare and code-breaking. At home there was bombing, evacuation and the threat of invasion. Finally, the authors study how public schools shaped the way the war was interpreted culturally and how they responded to victory in 1945 and hopes of a new social order. This fascinating book draws widely on primary source material and personal accounts of inspiring courage and endurance.