The Importance of Being Eton

The uniform is Dickensian, the sports arcane, the fees astronomical. But Eton College still stitches itself into the fabric of our national life like no other school – the breeding ground for princes and prime ministers, where the arriviste meets the aristocrat.

What is it about Eton? For many it is a symbol of all that is wrong with Britain: an obstacle to modernity and a powerful force for privilege, elitism, and snobbery. For others it represents a beacon of tradition and excellence in an otherwise monochrome world. But whether you love, loathe, fear or ridicule it, no one can ignore a school which has such an impact on those who go there – and those who don’t.

Award-winning film maker Nick Fraser draws on his own experiences as an “OE”, as well as those of teachers and fellow pupils – famous and infamous – to evaluate the phenomenon that is Eton.

“The Importance of Being Eton is revelatory – a masterly psychopathology of the Etonian condition.”
Ivo Dawnay, Daily Mail

“If I had a top hat, I’d doff it to Nick Fraser for the honesty with which he has picked over his own time there, and the way he conveys the flavour of that most peculiar of upbringings.”
Tom Fort, Sunday Telegraph

About Nick Fraser

Nick Fraser is editor of Storyville, the BBC's acclaimed, award-winning international documentary strand. He has written five non-fiction books, and contributes to many newspapers including the Financial Times. He is a contributing editor at Harper's Magazine, New York.