The Enigma of Kidson: The Portrait of an Eton Schoolmaster

by Jamie Blackett

Overview

The Enigma of Kidson is a scintillating and often hilarious biography of an inspirational and controversial history master, Michael Kidson, who taught a generation of pupils at Eton for forty years. Forget Eton, think Mr Chips, The History Boys and Dead Poets Society. Kidson was a maverick; funny, eccentric, breathtakingly rude, quick-tempered, insulting, kind, compassionate and loyal, with a secret past about which he never spoke. Among his pupils were David Cameron, Matthew Pinsent, Justin Welby, Dominic West, and 'Lupin', Johnnie Boden, Nat Rothschild and many others, who all tell stories and anecdotes about how he changed their lives. This biography unravels his complex character and discovers that it has been formed by an early life that is stranger than fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781846892516
Publisher:	Quiller
Publication date:	06/12/2017
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Jamie Blackett was born in 1964 was educated at Ludgrove, Eton — where he was tutored by Michael Kidson — and Sandhurst. After working in South Africa he joined the Coldstream Guards, serving in Northern Ireland, the First Gulf War, Hong Kong, The Falkland Islands, Zimbabwe and Germany. He returned to Galloway where he is now a farmer and a freelance journalist writing on farming and the countryside.

Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgements
Foreword
Prologue

1. Eton Revisited
2. Abdul the Camel Driver
3. Private Business
4. Crime and Punishment
5. A Shropshire Lad
6. Toiling Upward
7. The Corner House
8. Beaks
9. A Sheeted Tombstone
10. The Heartless Ramparts
11. Sport
12. Parents
13. Hold On, Jack!
14. Outside the Classroom
15. The End Game
16. After Eton
17. Retirement
18. I Can't Stand the Preliminaries
19. Vale

Epilogue
Appendix: History Matters
Eton Glossary
Index

Editorial Reviews

'Eccentricity is being squeezed out of teaching today. This book delightfully and powerfully shows us why our schools would benefit from more, not less of it.'

Sir Anthony Seldon

'This book needs an H.M. Government health warning for OFSTED inspectors as it describes an inspired beak who ignored all the modern rules but put his pupils first.'

Jacob Rees-Mogg

'This is the most delicious book. I have loved every page of it and laughed out loud. What a wonderful and extraordinary story. We should all have mavericks like Kidson in our lives.'

Penny Junor

'This book, a feast of anecdotes about a remarkable schoolmaster, is a delight. Michael Kidson, for all his eccentricity, exemplified the essential character of a great teacher; read The Enigma and learn about life.'

Sir Jeremy Greenstock

'My four brothers and husband all went to Eton but The Enigma of Kidson is the only book I've ever read that makes me long to have gone to the school too.'

Rachel Johnson

'With a light touch but penetrating perception, Jamie Blackett has written the story of a maverick: of a man who could be quirky, unbelievably rude, unbelievably funny and an inspiration to all those boys who were up to him as their personal tutor or "Modern Tutor" in Eton parlance.'

Dumfries and Galloway Life - Vicky Jardine Paterson

Michael Kidson, history master at Eton, educated a generation during his 40 years at the school and inspired many. This funny and fascinating book, with a foreword by Sir Matthew Pinsent, includes contributions from the Archbishop of Canterbury, David Cameron, Jacob Rees-Mogg and William Fox-Pitt to name a few. The illustrated, scribbled notes to MGMK are marvellous and the deep affection so many boys held for him is touching.

This portrait of Kidson and Eton serves as a reminder of the maverick, growling, pedantic, irascible madness of so many extraordinary teachers. A delight to read and a fitting testament.

The Field - Alexandra Henton

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the abiding assets of Great Britain are two: eccentricity and humour... For devotees of the form, one of the most priceless documents to appear in recent years is a little-known work, available on Amazon, entitled The Enigma of Kidson, a largely oral biography of a strange-gaited man who taught history at Eton for 29 years, from the time of Harold Wilson to that of John Major. As the U.K. remains convulsed in debates over whether such “bastions of privilege” should be abolished, the book offers a rare glimpse into what is at stake.

Pico Iyer

A celebration of the maverick but utterly inspiring Eton master who taught everyone from Cameron to the Archbishop of Canterbury... We all need mentors in life and for many of us that was Michael. It is almost impossible to fix a comma into a sentence, or frame an insult, or pronounce a word without him hovering at the back of our minds: pernickety things like that mask the bigger truth, that he was a rock to us all.

Daily Mail

Michael Kidson was a rebellious Mr Chips, who stood up for the problematic boys at Eton with fire, and without fear of the school's ruling classes. To be taught history by this unique force of nature was, for me, a privilege. In his biography, The Enigma of Kidson, Jamie Blackett captures the spleen, and the heart, of a great teacher and a magnificent man.

Charles Spencer

A Stirring, often hilarious biography of Michael Kidson, a fullthrottle eccentric who taught boys at Eton for 40 years. Think the History Boys meets Goodbye, Mr Chips.

From the Publisher

'Michael Kidson was a wonderful eccentric and an inspiring teacher. Reading this book brought back many happy memories.'

David Cameron

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the abiding assets of Great Britain are two: eccentricity and humour... For devotees of the form, one of the most priceless documents to appear in recent years is a little-known work, available on Amazon, entitled The Enigma of Kidson, a largely oral biography of a strange-gaited man who taught history at Eton for 29 years, from the time of Harold Wilson to that of John Major. As the U.K. remains convulsed in debates over whether such “bastions of privilege” should be abolished, the book offers a rare glimpse into what is at stake.

Pico Iyer

A celebration of the maverick but utterly inspiring Eton master who taught everyone from Cameron to the Archbishop of Canterbury... We all need mentors in life and for many of us that was Michael. It is almost impossible to fix a comma into a sentence, or frame an insult, or pronounce a word without him hovering at the back of our minds: pernickety things like that mask the bigger truth, that he was a rock to us all.

Daily Mail

Hilarious and touching, The Enigma of Kidson, is the account of an Eton history master, never to be made a housemaster but up there with Jean Brodie and Mr Chips. With a light touch but penetrating perception, Jamie Blackett as written the story of a maverick; a man who could be quirky, unbelievably rude, unbelievably funny and an inspiration to all those boys who were up to him as their personal tutor or 'Modern Tutor' in Eton parlance... It is a delight.

Dumfries & Galloway Life