The Decline of Privilege: The Modernization of Oxford University

This book studies Oxford University's transformation—and the political hazards for academics that ensued—when, after World War II, it changed from a private liberal-arts club with aristocratic pretensions into a state university heavily committed to the natural sciences, and with a middle-class constituency and a meritocratic ethos.

Despite these changes, the author shows that Oxford has not been able to elude its long-standing Brideshead Revisited reputation. This antiquated image became a...