A Very Private School

In this poignant memoir, Charles Spencer recounts the trauma of being sent away from home at age eight to attend a boarding school. A Very Private School offers a clear-eyed, firsthand account of a culture of cruelty at the school Spencer attended in his youth and provides important insights into an antiquated boarding system. Drawing on the memories of many of his schoolboy contemporaries, as well as his own letters and diaries from the time, he reflects on the hopelessness and abandonment he felt aged eight, viscerally describing the intense pain of homesickness and the appalling inescapability of it all. Exploring the long-lasting impact of his experiences, Spencer presents a candid reckoning with his past and a reclamation of his childhood.

EARLY PRAISE FOR A VERY PRIVATE SCHOOL ‘Moving and beautifully written, what Spencer’s courageous book reveals will be horribly familiar to the thousands of us who endured the same vile abuse in dozens of schools that were clones of each other. Most of us will go to our graves with the wounds unhealed' Louis de Bernieres 'This is a powerful, unforgettable story of childhood trauma, and the dark secrets and savagery of the past, told with a searing honesty and clarity that is ultimately redemptive' Justine Picardie PRAISE FOR THE SHIP A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘Spencer is one of the finest narrative historians around’ Mail on Sunday ‘Charles Spencer is a gifted storyteller’ The Times ‘As colourful and racy narrative history goes, this absolutely gallops’ Daily Mail ‘As gripping as any thriller. History doesn't get any better than this’ Bill Bryson 'Spencer proves himself more than a match for the story . . . Spencer has a particularly good eye for detail, enriching his account with vivid pen-portraits of the main players … Fast-paced and immensely enjoyable' Literary Review ‘A master storyteller … rooted in excellent historical research … a lyrical, vivid and compelling portrait. He succeeds in bringing to life huge characters from nearly a millennium ago’ Spectator ‘An exhilarating narrative full of incident and insight . . .marvellously told . . . unpredictable, violently dramatic, and never less than compelling’ Helen Castor 'Told with verve and an exceptional eye for detail . . . Dramatic, compelling and utterly addictive’ Tracy Borman

Charles Spencer was educated at Eton College and obtained his degree in Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a reporter on NBC’s Today show from 1986 until 1995, and is the author of seven books, including the Sunday Times bestsellers The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream (picked as a Best Book Of The Year by The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Daily Mail And The Daily Express), Blenheim: Battle for Europe (shortlisted for History Book of the Year, National Book Awards) and Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I.